Personalized prediction of responses for instant messaging

ABSTRACT

At an electronic device with a display screen, display a message transcript, where the message transcript includes an incoming message. Determine, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters. Determine if the user of the device has, in the past, frequently inputted a response different from the plurality suggested one or more characters when the plurality were presented for user selection. Optionally, determine if the frequently inputted response is synonymous with a suggested one or more characters. Display the frequently-inputted response, in place of at least one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters, under some circumstances based on these determination(s).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/172,168, “Personalized Prediction of Responses for Instant Messaging,” filed Jun. 7, 2015, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

This application relates to the following applications: U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/005,837, “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for a Predictive Keyboard,” filed May 30, 2014; U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/005,825, “Entropy-Guided Text Prediction Using Combined Word and Character N-gram Language Models,” filed May 30, 2014; U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/006,010, “Predictive Text Input,” filed May 30, 2014; U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/005,942, “Text Prediction Using Combined Word N-gram and Unigram Language Models,” filed May 30, 2014. The content of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to computer user interfaces, and more specifically to techniques for accepting user input in different circumstances.

BACKGROUND

Portable electronic devices, particularly cellular phones, are popular devices for message-based communications. Exemplary message-based communications include the short message service (SMS) and iMessage technologies provided by Apple Inc., of Cupertino, Calif.

SUMMARY

The small form factors of portable electronic devices present user interface challenges with respect to inputting messages during message-based communication. One challenge arises from the reduced-size keyboards typically employed by these devices, which are sub-optimal for typing. Further improvements in electronics packaging techniques that lend to smaller devices with even less room for keyboard placement further exacerbate this difficulty.

The present invention provides techniques for predicting a user's likely response to an incoming message and presenting the predictions for user selection. In this way, manual user input is reduced. Such techniques reduce the cognitive burden on a user as required by manual typing, and produce a more efficient human-machine interface by offering the user relevant options that can be invoked quickly and easily.

Such methods and interfaces may also reduce the number of unnecessary, extraneous, repetitive, and/or redundant inputs—such as the manually typing of a message—and may create a faster and more efficient user interface arrangement, which may reduce the number of required inputs, reduce processing power, and reduce the amount of time for which user interfaces need to be displayed in order for desired functions to be accessed and carried out. For battery-operated computing devices, such methods and interfaces conserve power and increase the time between battery charges (and decrease the time to fully charge a battery), including by reducing unnecessary or accidental inputs and by obviating unnecessary extra user inputs.

The above deficiencies and other problems are reduced or eliminated by the disclosed devices, methods, and computer-readable media. In some embodiments, the device is a desktop computer. In some embodiments, the device is portable (e.g., a notebook computer, tablet computer, or handheld device). In some embodiments, the device has a touchpad. In some embodiments, the device has a touch-sensitive display (also known as a “touch screen” or “touch screen display”). In some embodiments, the device has hardware input mechanisms such as depressible buttons and/or rotatable input mechanisms. In some embodiments, the device has a graphical user interface (GUI), one or more processors, memory, and one or more modules, programs, or sets of instructions stored in the memory for performing multiple functions. In some embodiments, the user interacts with the GUI through finger contacts and gestures on the touch-sensitive surface and/or through rotating the rotatable input mechanism and/or through depressing hardware buttons. In some embodiments, the functions optionally include image editing, drawing, presenting, word processing, website creating, disk authoring, spreadsheet making, game playing, telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging, workout support, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing, digital music playing, and/or digital video playing. Executable instructions for performing these functions are, optionally, included in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or other computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors. Executable instructions for performing these functions are, optionally, included in a transitory computer-readable storage medium or other computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors.

In some embodiments, a method comprises: at an electronic device having a display screen and one or more input devices: displaying, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determining based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determining whether usage of a previously detected one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously detected one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters exceeds the threshold, displaying the previously detected one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, displaying the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, a method comprises: at an electronic device having a display screen and one or more input devices: displaying, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a first message received from a user; determining, based at least in-part on the first message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the first message; displaying, on the display screen, the plurality of suggested one or more characters; detecting, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, an input representing a response to the first message, wherein the response comprises one or more characters, and wherein the response is not one of the displayed plurality of suggested one or more characters; determining whether usage of the response exceeds a threshold; receiving a second message into the message transcript; and in response to receiving the second message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response exceeds the threshold, displaying the response as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response does not exceed the threshold, displaying the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device with a display screen and one or more input devices, the one or more programs including instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: display, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determine whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, display the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, display the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device with a display and one or more input devices, the one or more programs including instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: display, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a first message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the first message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the first message; display, on the display screen, the plurality of suggested one or more characters; detect with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, an input representing a response to the first message, wherein the response comprises one or more characters, and wherein the response is not one of the displayed plurality of suggested one or more characters; determine whether usage of the response exceeds a threshold; receive a second message into the message transcript; and in response to receiving the second message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response exceeds the threshold, display the response as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response does not exceed the threshold, display the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

In some embodiments, a transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device with a display screen and one or more input devices, the one or more programs including instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: display, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determine whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, display the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, display the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, a transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device with a display and one or more input devices, the one or more programs including instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: display, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a first message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the first message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the first message; display, on the display screen, the plurality of suggested one or more characters; detect with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, an input representing a response to the first message, wherein the response comprises one or more characters, and wherein the response is not one of the displayed plurality of suggested one or more characters; determine whether usage of the response exceeds a threshold; receive a second message into the message transcript; and in response to receiving the second message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response exceeds the threshold, display the response as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response does not exceed the threshold, display the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

In some embodiments, an electronic device comprises: a display screen; one or more input devices; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs stored in memory, including instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: display, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determine whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, display the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, display the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, an electronic device comprises: a display screen; one or more input devices; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs stored in memory, including instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: display, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a first message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the first message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the first message; display, on the display screen, the plurality of suggested one or more characters; detect, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, an input representing a response to the first message, wherein the response comprises one or more characters, and wherein the response is not one of the displayed plurality of suggested one or more characters; determine whether usage of the response exceeds a threshold; receive a second message into the message transcript; and in response to receiving the second message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response exceeds the threshold, display the response as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response does not exceed the threshold, display the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

In some embodiments, an electronic device comprises: a display screen; one or more input devices; means for displaying, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; means for determining, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; means for determining whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; means for, in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, display the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, display the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, an electronic device comprises: a display unit; one or more input devices; means for displaying, on the display unit, a message transcript, the message transcript including a first message received from a user; means for determining, based at least in-part on the first message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the first message; means for displaying, on the display unit, the plurality of suggested one or more characters; means for detecting, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, an input representing a response to the first message, wherein the response comprises one or more characters, and wherein the response is not one of the displayed plurality of suggested one or more characters; means for determining whether usage of the response exceeds a threshold; means for receiving a second message into the message transcript; and means for, in response to receiving the second message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response exceeds the threshold, displaying the response as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response does not exceed the threshold, displaying the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

In some embodiments, an electronic device comprises: a display unit; one or more input devices; a processing unit configured to: enable display of, on the display unit, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determine whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, enable display of the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, enable display of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, an electronic device comprises: a display unit; one or more input devices; a processing unit configured to: enable display of, on the display unit, a message transcript, the message transcript including a first message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the first message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the first message; enable display of, on the display unit, the plurality of suggested one or more characters; detect, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, an input representing a response to the first message, wherein the response comprises one or more characters, and wherein the response is not one of the displayed plurality of suggested one or more characters; determine whether usage of the response exceeds a threshold; receive a second message into the message transcript; and in response to receiving the second message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response exceeds the threshold, enable display of the response as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response does not exceed the threshold, enable display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

Thus, devices are provided with faster, more efficient, less cumbersome methods and interfaces for messaging; these devices, methods, and interfaces thereby increase the effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction with such devices.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

For a better understanding of the various described embodiments, reference should be made to the Description of Embodiments below, in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction device with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event handling in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screen in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu of applications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface for a multifunction device with a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5A illustrates a personal electronic device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 6A-6J illustrate exemplary user interfaces for responding to messages using predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 6K-6O illustrate exemplary types of predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for responding to messages using predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for responding to messages using predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for responding to messages using predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for responding to messages using predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 11-15 are functional block diagram of electronic devices in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 16A-16P illustrate exemplary user interfaces for responding to messages using personalized predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 17A-E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for responding to messages using personalized predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for responding to messages using personalized predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 19A-19C depict a flow diagram illustrating a process for responding to messages using personalized predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for responding to messages using personalized predictive answers in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 21-22 are functional block diagram of electronic devices in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following description sets forth exemplary methods, parameters, and the like. It should be recognized, however, that such description is not intended as a limitation on the scope of the present disclosure but is instead provided as a description of exemplary embodiments.

Below, FIGS. 1A-1B, 2, 3, 4A-4B, and 5A-5B provide a description of exemplary devices for performing the techniques described herein. For brevity, these techniques may be referred to as “predictive answers” for responding to user messages. FIGS. 6A-6O, 16A-16O, and 17A-17E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for invoking predictive answers. The user interfaces in the figures are also used to illustrate the processes described below, including those processes in FIGS. 7-10 and 19-20.

Although the following description uses terms “first,” “second,” etc. to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by the terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first touch could be termed a second touch, and, similarly, a second touch could be termed a first touch, without departing from the scope of the various described embodiments. The first touch and the second touch are both touches, but they are not the same touch.

The terminology used in the description of the various described embodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various described embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The term “if” is optionally construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated condition or event] is detected” is optionally construed to mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],” depending on the context.

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, and associated processes for using such devices are described. In some embodiments, the device is a portable communications device, such as a mobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/or music player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunction devices include, without limitation, the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad® devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other portable electronic devices, such as laptops or tablet computers with touch-sensitive surfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touchpads), are, optionally, used. It should also be understood that, in some embodiments, the device is not a portable communications device, but is a desktop computer with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screen display and/or a touchpad).

In the discussion that follows, an electronic device that includes a display and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should be understood, however, that the electronic device optionally includes one or more other physical user-interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, a mouse, and/or a joystick.

The device optionally supports a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a drawing application, a presentation application, a word processing application, a website creation application, a disk authoring application, a spreadsheet application, a gaming application, a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e mail application, an instant messaging application, a workout support application, a photo management application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application.

The various applications that are executed on the device optionally use at least one common physical user-interface device, such as the touch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitive surface as well as corresponding information displayed on the device are, optionally, adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture (such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the device optionally supports the variety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive and transparent to the user.

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of portable devices with touch-sensitive displays. FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating portable multifunction device 100 with touch-sensitive display system 112 in accordance with some embodiments. Touch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes called a “touch screen” for convenience and is sometimes known as or called a “touch-sensitive display system.” Device 100 includes memory 102 (which optionally includes one or more computer-readable storage mediums), memory controller 122, one or more processing units (CPUs) 120, peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input control devices 116, and external port 124. Device 100 optionally includes one or more optical sensors 164. Device 100 optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors 165 for detecting intensity of contacts on device 100 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitive display system 112 of device 100). Device 100 optionally includes one or more tactile output generators 167 for generating tactile outputs on device 100 (e.g., generating tactile outputs on a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitive display system 112 of device 100 or touchpad 355 of device 300). These components optionally communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines 103.

As used in the specification and claims, the term “intensity” of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure (force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on the touch-sensitive surface, or to a substitute (proxy) for the force or pressure of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface. The intensity of a contact has a range of values that includes at least four distinct values and more typically includes hundreds of distinct values (e.g., at least 256). Intensity of a contact is, optionally, determined (or measured) using various approaches and various sensors or combinations of sensors. For example, one or more force sensors underneath or adjacent to the touch-sensitive surface are, optionally, used to measure force at various points on the touch-sensitive surface. In some implementations, force measurements from multiple force sensors are combined (e.g., a weighted average) to determine an estimated force of a contact. Similarly, a pressure-sensitive tip of a stylus is, optionally, used to determine a pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitive surface. Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on the touch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereto, the capacitance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto, and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto are, optionally, used as a substitute for the force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. In some implementations, the substitute measurements for contact force or pressure are used directly to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in units corresponding to the substitute measurements). In some implementations, the substitute measurements for contact force or pressure are converted to an estimated force or pressure, and the estimated force or pressure is used to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in units of pressure). Using the intensity of a contact as an attribute of a user input allows for user access to additional device functionality that may otherwise not be accessible by the user on a reduced-size device with limited real estate for displaying affordances (e.g., on a touch-sensitive display) and/or receiving user input (e.g., via a touch-sensitive display, a touch-sensitive surface, or a physical/mechanical control such as a knob or a button).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “tactile output” refers to physical displacement of a device relative to a previous position of the device, physical displacement of a component (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface) of a device relative to another component (e.g., housing) of the device, or displacement of the component relative to a center of mass of the device that will be detected by a user with the user's sense of touch. For example, in situations where the device or the component of the device is in contact with a surface of a user that is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other part of a user's hand), the tactile output generated by the physical displacement will be interpreted by the user as a tactile sensation corresponding to a perceived change in physical characteristics of the device or the component of the device. For example, movement of a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or trackpad) is, optionally, interpreted by the user as a “down click” or “up click” of a physical actuator button. In some cases, a user will feel a tactile sensation such as an “down click” or “up click” even when there is no movement of a physical actuator button associated with the touch-sensitive surface that is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movements. As another example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface is, optionally, interpreted or sensed by the user as “roughness” of the touch-sensitive surface, even when there is no change in smoothness of the touch-sensitive surface. While such interpretations of touch by a user will be subject to the individualized sensory perceptions of the user, there are many sensory perceptions of touch that are common to a large majority of users. Thus, when a tactile output is described as corresponding to a particular sensory perception of a user (e.g., an “up click,” a “down click,” “roughness”), unless otherwise stated, the generated tactile output corresponds to physical displacement of the device or a component thereof that will generate the described sensory perception for a typical (or average) user.

It should be appreciated that device 100 is only one example of a portable multifunction device, and that device 100 optionally has more or fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or more components, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangement of the components. The various components shown in FIG. 1A are implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application-specific integrated circuits.

Memory 102 optionally includes one or more computer-readable storage mediums. The computer-readable storage mediums are optionally tangible and non-transitory. Memory 102 optionally includes high-speed random access memory and optionally also includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Memory controller 122 optionally controls access to memory 102 by other components of device 100.

Peripherals interface 118 can be used to couple input and output peripherals of the device to CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or more processors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in memory 102 to perform various functions for device 100 and to process data. In some embodiments, peripherals interface 118, CPU 120, and memory controller 122 are implemented on a single chip, such as chip 104. In some other embodiments, they are implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communications networks and other communications devices via the electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 optionally includes well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RF circuitry 108 optionally communicates with networks, such as the Internet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The RF circuitry 108 optionally includes well-known circuitry for detecting near field communication (NFC) fields, such as by a short-range communication radio. The wireless communication optionally uses any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols, and technologies, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), Evolution, Data-Only (EV-DO), HSPA, HSPA+, Dual-Cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), long term evolution (LTE), near field communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, and/or IEEE 802.11ac), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for e mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, and microphone 113 provide an audio interface between a user and device 100. Audio circuitry 110 receives audio data from peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 111. Speaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves. Audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted by microphone 113 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 110 converts the electrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data to peripherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data is optionally be retrieved from and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or RF circuitry 108 by peripherals interface 118. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 110 also includes a headset jack (e.g., 212, FIG. 2). The headset jack provides an interface between audio circuitry 110 and removable audio input/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone).

I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on device 100, such as touch screen 112 and other input control devices 116, to peripherals interface 118. I/O subsystem 106 optionally includes display controller 156, optical sensor controller 158, intensity sensor controller 159, haptic feedback controller 161, and one or more input controllers 160 for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160 receive/send electrical signals from/to other input control devices 116. The other input control devices 116 optionally include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s) 160 are, optionally, coupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, an infrared port, a USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, FIG. 2) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of speaker 111 and/or microphone 113. The one or more buttons optionally include a push button (e.g., 206, FIG. 2).

A quick press of the push button optionally disengages a lock of touch screen 112 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,849, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 206) optionally turns power to device 100 on or off. The user is optionally able to customize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. Touch screen 112 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

Touch-sensitive display 112 provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and a user. Display controller 156 receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 112. Touch screen 112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output optionally includes graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output optionally corresponds to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor, or set of sensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact. Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 112 and convert the detected contact into interaction with user-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages, or images) that are displayed on touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, a point of contact between touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a finger of the user.

Touch screen 112 optionally uses LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emitting diode) technology, although other display technologies are optionally used in other embodiments. Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 optionally detects contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in the iPhone® and iPod Touch® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 112 is optionally analogous to the multi-touch sensitive touchpads described in the following U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,570,557 (Westerman et al.), and/or U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. However, touch screen 112 displays visual output from device 100, whereas touch-sensitive touchpads do not provide visual output.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 112 is optionally described in the following applications: (1) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,” filed May 2, 2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, “Multipoint Touchscreen,” filed May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jul. 30, 2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/048,264, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 31, 2005; (5) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based Graphical User Interfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 18, 2005; (6) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,758, “Virtual Input Device Placement On A Touch Screen User Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (7) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation Of A Computer With A Touch Screen Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (8) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen Virtual Keyboard,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filed Mar. 3, 2006. All of these applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

Touch screen 112 optionally has a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi. In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution of approximately 160 dpi. The user optionally makes contact with touch screen 112 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 100 optionally includes a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visual output. The touchpad is optionally a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

Device 100 also includes power system 162 for powering the various components. Power system 162 optionally includes a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation, management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more optical sensors 164. FIG. 1A shows an optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 158 in I/O subsystem 106. Optical sensor 164 optionally includes charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors. Optical sensor 164 receives light from the environment, projected through one or more lenses, and converts the light to data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module 143 (also called a camera module), optical sensor 164 optionally captures still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112 on the front of the device so that the touch screen display is optionally used as a viewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user's image is optionally obtained for video conferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the position of optical sensor 164 can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a single optical sensor 164 is optionally used along with the touch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more contact intensity sensors 165. FIG. 1A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled to intensity sensor controller 159 in I/O subsystem 106. Contact intensity sensor 165 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, electric force sensors, piezoelectric force sensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, or other intensity sensors (e.g., sensors used to measure the force (or pressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensity sensor 165 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressure information or a proxy for pressure information) from the environment. In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is collocated with, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is located on the back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112, which is located on the front of device 100.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more proximity sensors 166. FIG. 1A shows proximity sensor 166 coupled to peripherals interface 118. Alternately, proximity sensor 166 is optionally coupled to input controller 160 in I/O subsystem 106. Proximity sensor 166 optionally performs as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/241,839, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device”; Ser. No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device”; Ser. No. 11/620,702, “Using Ambient Light Sensor To Augment Proximity Sensor Output”; Ser. No. 11/586,862, “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”; and Ser. No. 11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration Of Peripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more tactile output generators 167. FIG. 1A shows a tactile output generator coupled to haptic feedback controller 161 in I/O subsystem 106. Tactile output generator 167 optionally includes one or more electroacoustic devices such as speakers or other audio components and/or electromechanical devices that convert energy into linear motion such as a motor, solenoid, electroactive polymer, piezoelectric actuator, electrostatic actuator, or other tactile output generating component (e.g., a component that converts electrical signals into tactile outputs on the device). Contact intensity sensor 165 receives tactile feedback generation instructions from haptic feedback module 133 and generates tactile outputs on device 100 that are capable of being sensed by a user of device 100. In some embodiments, at least one tactile output generator is collocated with, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112) and, optionally, generates a tactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g., in/out of a surface of device 100) or laterally (e.g., back and forth in the same plane as a surface of device 100). In some embodiments, at least one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112, which is located on the front of device 100.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more accelerometers 168. FIG. 1A shows accelerometer 168 coupled to peripherals interface 118. Alternately, accelerometer 168 is optionally coupled to an input controller 160 in I/O subsystem 106. Accelerometer 168 optionally performs as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050190059, “Acceleration-based Theft Detection System for Portable Electronic Devices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060017692, “Methods And Apparatuses For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer,” both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers. Device 100 optionally includes, in addition to accelerometer(s) 168, a magnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other global navigation system) receiver (not shown) for obtaining information concerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) of device 100.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102 include operating system 126, communication module (or set of instructions) 128, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130, graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, text input module (or set of instructions) 134, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions) 135, and applications (or sets of instructions) 136. Furthermore, in some embodiments, memory 102 (FIG. 1A) or 370 (FIG. 3) stores device/global internal state 157, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 3. Device/global internal state 157 includes one or more of: active application state, indicating which applications, if any, are currently active; display state, indicating what applications, views or other information occupy various regions of touch screen display 112; sensor state, including information obtained from the device's various sensors and input control devices 116; and location information concerning the device's location and/or attitude.

Operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components.

Communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devices over one or more external ports 124 and also includes various software components for handling data received by RF circuitry 108 and/or external port 124. External port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with, the 30-pin connector used on iPod® (trademark of Apple Inc.) devices.

Contact/motion module 130 optionally detects contact with touch screen 112 (in conjunction with display controller 156) and other touch-sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). Contact/motion module 130 includes various software components for performing various operations related to detection of contact, such as determining if contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-down event), determining an intensity of the contact (e.g., the force or pressure of the contact or a substitute for the force or pressure of the contact), determining if there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or more finger-dragging events), and determining if the contact has ceased (e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact). Contact/motion module 130 receives contact data from the touch-sensitive surface. Determining movement of the point of contact, which is represented by a series of contact data, optionally includes determining speed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations are, optionally, applied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, contact/motion module 130 and display controller 156 detect contact on a touchpad.

In some embodiments, contact/motion module 130 uses a set of one or more intensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has been performed by a user (e.g., to determine whether a user has “clicked” on an icon). In some embodiments, at least a subset of the intensity thresholds are determined in accordance with software parameters (e.g., the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholds of particular physical actuators and can be adjusted without changing the physical hardware of device 100). For example, a mouse “click” threshold of a trackpad or touch screen display can be set to any of a large range of predefined threshold values without changing the trackpad or touch screen display hardware. Additionally, in some implementations, a user of the device is provided with software settings for adjusting one or more of the set of intensity thresholds (e.g., by adjusting individual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting a plurality of intensity thresholds at once with a system-level click “intensity” parameter).

Contact/motion module 130 optionally detects a gesture input by a user. Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contact patterns (e.g., different motions, timings, and/or intensities of detected contacts). Thus, a gesture is, optionally, detected by detecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includes detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event at the same position (or substantially the same position) as the finger-down event (e.g., at the position of an icon). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and subsequently followed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event.

Graphics module 132 includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 112 or other display, including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness, transparency, saturation, contrast, or other visual property) of graphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including, without limitation, text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations, and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 132 stores data representing graphics to be used. Each graphic is, optionally, assigned a corresponding code. Graphics module 132 receives, from applications etc., one or more codes specifying graphics to be displayed along with, if necessary, coordinate data and other graphic property data, and then generates screen image data to output to display controller 156.

Haptic feedback module 133 includes various software components for generating instructions used by tactile output generator(s) 167 to produce tactile outputs at one or more locations on device 100 in response to user interactions with device 100.

Text input module 134, which is optionally a component of graphics module 132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g., contacts 137, e mail 140, IM 141, browser 147, and any other application that needs text input).

GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 for use in location-based dialing; to camera 143 as picture/video metadata; and to applications that provide location-based services such as weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Applications 136 optionally includes the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact         list);     -   Telephone module 138;     -   Video conference module 139;     -   E-mail client module 140;     -   Instant messaging (IM) module 141;     -   Workout support module 142;     -   Camera module 143 for still and/or video images;     -   Image management module 144;     -   Video player module;     -   Music player module;     -   Browser module 147;     -   Calendar module 148;     -   Widget modules 149, which optionally includes one or more of:         weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget         149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and         other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created         widgets 149-6;     -   Widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;     -   Search module 151;     -   Video and music player module 152, which merges video player         module and music player module;     -   Notes module 153;     -   Map module 154; and/or     -   Online video module 155.

Examples of other applications 136 that is optionally stored in memory 102 include other word processing applications, other image editing applications, drawing applications, presentation applications, JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, contacts module 137 is optionally used to manage an address book or contact list (e.g., stored in application internal state 192 of contacts module 137 in memory 102 or memory 370), including: adding name(s) to the address book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associating telephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or other information with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizing and sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses to initiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 138, video conference module 139, e-mail 140, or IM 141; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, telephone module 138 is optionally used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to a telephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in contacts module 137, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial a respective telephone number, conduct a conversation, and disconnect or hang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wireless communication optionally uses any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols, and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, contacts module 137, and telephone module 138, video conference module 139 includes executable instructions to initiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user and one or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, e-mail client module 140 includes executable instructions to create, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response to user instructions. In conjunction with image management module 144, e-mail client module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails with still or video images taken with camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the instant messaging module 141 includes executable instructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to an instant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit a respective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-based instant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-based instant messages), to receive instant messages, and to view received instant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or received instant messages optionally includes graphics, photos, audio files, video files and/or other attachments as are supported in an MMS and/or an Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers to both telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) and Internet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, GPS module 135, map module 154, and music player module, workout support module 142 includes executable instructions to create workouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals); communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receive workout sensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; select and play music for a workout; and display, store, and transmit workout data.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and image management module 144, camera module 143 includes executable instructions to capture still images or video (including a video stream) and store them into memory 102, modify characteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image or video from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and camera module 143, image management module 144 includes executable instructions to arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate, label, delete, present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/or video images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, browser module 147 includes executable instructions to browse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, including searching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portions thereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, e-mail client module 140, and browser module 147, calendar module 148 includes executable instructions to create, display, modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendar entries, to-do lists, etc.) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and browser module 147, widget modules 149 are mini-applications that is optionally downloaded and used by a user (e.g., weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or created by the user (e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, a widget includes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widget includes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file (e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150 is optionally used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specified portion of a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, search module 151 includes executable instructions to search for text, music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 102 that match one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified search terms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, video and music player module 152 includes executable instructions that allow the user to download and play back recorded music and other sound files stored in one or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executable instructions to display, present, or otherwise play back videos (e.g., on touch screen 112 or on an external, connected display via external port 124). In some embodiments, device 100 optionally includes the functionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, notes module 153 includes executable instructions to create and manage notes, to-do lists, and the like in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, map module 154 is optionally used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associated with maps (e.g., driving directions, data on stores and other points of interest at or near a particular location, and other location-based data) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, RF circuitry 108, text input module 134, e-mail client module 140, and browser module 147, online video module 155 includes instructions that allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streaming and/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or on an external, connected display via external port 124), send an e-mail with a link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online videos in one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments, instant messaging module 141, rather than e-mail client module 140, is used to send a link to a particular online video. Additional description of the online video application can be found in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/936,562, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Jun. 20, 2007, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/968,067, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Dec. 31, 2007, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Each of the above-identified modules and applications corresponds to a set of executable instructions for performing one or more functions described above and the methods described in this application (e.g., the computer-implemented methods and other information processing methods described herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules is optionally combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module is optionally combined with music player module into a single module (e.g., video and music player module 152, FIG. 1A). In some embodiments, memory 102 optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 102 optionally stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, device 100 is a device where operation of a predefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusively through a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/or a touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device 100, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons, dials, and the like) on device 100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that are performed exclusively through a touch screen and/or a touchpad optionally include navigation between user interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user, navigates device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any user interface that is displayed on device 100. In such embodiments, a “menu button” is implemented using a touchpad. In some other embodiments, the menu button is a physical push button or other physical input control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event handling in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 102 (FIG. 1A) or 370 (FIG. 3) includes event sorter 170 (e.g., in operating system 126) and a respective application 136-1 (e.g., any of the aforementioned applications 137-151, 155, 380-390).

Event sorter 170 receives event information and determines the application 136-1 and application view 191 of application 136-1 to which to deliver the event information. Event sorter 170 includes event monitor 171 and event dispatcher module 174. In some embodiments, application 136-1 includes application internal state 192, which indicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch-sensitive display 112 when the application is active or executing. In some embodiments, device/global internal state 157 is used by event sorter 170 to determine which application(s) is (are) currently active, and application internal state 192 is used by event sorter 170 to determine application views 191 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, application internal state 192 includes additional information, such as one or more of: resume information to be used when application 136-1 resumes execution, user interface state information that indicates information being displayed or that is ready for display by application 136-1, a state queue for enabling the user to go back to a prior state or view of application 136-1, and a redo/undo queue of previous actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 171 receives event information from peripherals interface 118. Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., a user touch on touch-sensitive display 112, as part of a multi-touch gesture). Peripherals interface 118 transmits information it receives from I/O subsystem 106 or a sensor, such as proximity sensor 166, accelerometer(s) 168, and/or microphone 113 (through audio circuitry 110). Information that peripherals interface 118 receives from I/O subsystem 106 includes information from touch-sensitive display 112 or a touch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 171 sends requests to the peripherals interface 118 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripherals interface 118 transmits event information. In other embodiments, peripherals interface 118 transmits event information only when there is a significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predetermined noise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event sorter 170 also includes a hit view determination module 172 and/or an active event recognizer determination module 173.

Hit view determination module 172 provides software procedures for determining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more views when touch-sensitive display 112 displays more than one view. Views are made up of controls and other elements that a user can see on the display.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is a set of views, sometimes herein called application views or user interface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-based gestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) in which a touch is detected optionally corresponds to programmatic levels within a programmatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example, the lowest level view in which a touch is detected is optionally called the hit view, and the set of events that are recognized as proper inputs is optionally determined based, at least in part, on the hit view of the initial touch that begins a touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 172 receives information related to sub events of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multiple views organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 172 identifies a hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which should handle the sub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowest level view in which an initiating sub-event occurs (e.g., the first sub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potential event). Once the hit view is identified by the hit view determination module 172, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related to the same touch or input source for which it was identified as the hit view.

Active event recognizer determination module 173 determines which view or views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determination module 173 determines that only the hit view should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizer determination module 173 determines that all views that include the physical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, and therefore determines that all actively involved views should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touch sub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with one particular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain as actively involved views.

Event dispatcher module 174 dispatches the event information to an event recognizer (e.g., event recognizer 180). In embodiments including active event recognizer determination module 173, event dispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to an event recognizer determined by active event recognizer determination module 173. In some embodiments, event dispatcher module 174 stores in an event queue the event information, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver 182.

In some embodiments, operating system 126 includes event sorter 170. Alternatively, application 136-1 includes event sorter 170. In yet other embodiments, event sorter 170 is a stand-alone module, or a part of another module stored in memory 102, such as contact/motion module 130.

In some embodiments, application 136-1 includes a plurality of event handlers 190 and one or more application views 191, each of which includes instructions for handling touch events that occur within a respective view of the application's user interface. Each application view 191 of the application 136-1 includes one or more event recognizers 180. Typically, a respective application view 191 includes a plurality of event recognizers 180. In other embodiments, one or more of event recognizers 180 are part of a separate module, such as a user interface kit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application 136-1 inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respective event handler 190 includes one or more of: data updater 176, object updater 177, GUI updater 178, and/or event data 179 received from event sorter 170. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 176, object updater 177, or GUI updater 178 to update the application internal state 192. Alternatively, one or more of the application views 191 include one or more respective event handlers 190. Also, in some embodiments, one or more of data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178 are included in a respective application view 191.

A respective event recognizer 180 receives event information (e.g., event data 179) from event sorter 170 and identifies an event from the event information. Event recognizer 180 includes event receiver 182 and event comparator 184. In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 also includes at least a subset of: metadata 183, and event delivery instructions 188 (which optionally includes sub-event delivery instructions).

Event receiver 182 receives event information from event sorter 170. The event information includes information about a sub-event, for example, a touch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the event information also includes additional information, such as location of the sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch, the event information optionally also includes speed and direction of the sub-event. In some embodiments, events include rotation of the device from one orientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscape orientation, or vice versa), and the event information includes corresponding information about the current orientation (also called device attitude) of the device.

Event comparator 184 compares the event information to predefined event or sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines an event or sub event, or determines or updates the state of an event or sub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 184 includes event definitions 186. Event definitions 186 contain definitions of events (e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event 1 (187-1), event 2 (187-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events in an event (187) include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touch movement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, the definition for event 1 (187-1) is a double tap on a displayed object. The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) on the displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first liftoff (touch end) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on the displayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second liftoff (touch end) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition for event 2 (187-2) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, for example, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for a predetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitive display 112, and liftoff of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments, the event also includes information for one or more associated event handlers 190.

In some embodiments, event definition 187 includes a definition of an event for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, event comparator 184 performs a hit test to determine which user-interface object is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an application view in which three user-interface objects are displayed on touch-sensitive display 112, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitive display 112, event comparator 184 performs a hit test to determine which of the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch (sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respective event handler 190, the event comparator uses the result of the hit test to determine which event handler 190 should be activated. For example, event comparator 184 selects an event handler associated with the sub-event and the object triggering the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event (187) also includes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event information until after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-events does or does not correspond to the event recognizer's event type.

When a respective event recognizer 180 determines that the series of sub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions 186, the respective event recognizer 180 enters an event impossible, event failed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequent sub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other event recognizers, if any, that remain active for the hit view continue to track and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 includes metadata 183 with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how the event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to actively involved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 183 includes configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how event recognizers optionally interacts, or are enabled to interact, with one another. In some embodiments, metadata 183 includes configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate whether sub-events are delivered to varying levels in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 activates event handler 190 associated with an event when one or more particular sub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 delivers event information associated with the event to event handler 190. Activating an event handler 190 is distinct from sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view. In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 throws a flag associated with the recognized event, and event handler 190 associated with the flag catches the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 188 include sub-event delivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-event without activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event delivery instructions deliver event information to event handlers associated with the series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlers associated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved views receive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 176 creates and updates data used in application 136-1. For example, data updater 176 updates the telephone number used in contacts module 137, or stores a video file used in video player module. In some embodiments, object updater 177 creates and updates objects used in application 136-1. For example, object updater 177 creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of a user-interface object. GUI updater 178 updates the GUI. For example, GUI updater 178 prepares display information and sends it to graphics module 132 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler(s) 190 includes or has access to data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178. In some embodiments, data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178 are included in a single module of a respective application 136-1 or application view 191. In other embodiments, they are included in two or more software modules.

It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding event handling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays also applies to other forms of user inputs to operate multifunction devices 100 with input devices, not all of which are initiated on touch screens. For example, mouse movement and mouse button presses, optionally coordinated with single or multiple keyboard presses or holds; contact movements such as taps, drags, scrolls, etc. on touchpads; pen stylus inputs; movement of the device; oral instructions; detected eye movements; biometric inputs; and/or any combination thereof are optionally utilized as inputs corresponding to sub-events which define an event to be recognized.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touch screen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen optionally displays one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 200. In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user is enabled to select one or more of the graphics by making a gesture on the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scale in the figure) or one or more styluses 203 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, the gesture optionally includes one or more taps, one or more swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward), and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upward and/or downward) that has made contact with device 100. In some implementations or circumstances, inadvertent contact with a graphic does not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon optionally does not select the corresponding application when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more physical buttons, such as “home” or menu button 204. As described previously, menu button 204 is optionally used to navigate to any application 136 in a set of applications that is optionally executed on device 100. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menu button is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen 112.

In some embodiments, device 100 includes touch screen 112, menu button 204, push button 206 for powering the device on/off and locking the device, volume adjustment button(s) 208, subscriber identity module (SIM) card slot 210, headset jack 212, and docking/charging external port 124. Push button 206 is, optionally, used to turn the power on/off on the device by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressing the button and releasing the button before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process. In an alternative embodiment, device 100 also accepts verbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions through microphone 113. Device 100 also, optionally, includes one or more contact intensity sensors 165 for detecting intensity of contacts on touch screen 112 and/or one or more tactile output generators 167 for generating tactile outputs for a user of device 100.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with some embodiments. Device 300 need not be portable. In some embodiments, device 300 is a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a multimedia player device, a navigation device, an educational device (such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a control device (e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 300 typically includes one or more processing units (CPUs) 310, one or more network or other communications interfaces 360, memory 370, and one or more communication buses 320 for interconnecting these components. Communication buses 320 optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communications between system components. Device 300 includes input/output (I/O) interface 330 comprising display 340, which is typically a touch screen display. I/O interface 330 also optionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device) 350 and touchpad 355, tactile output generator 357 for generating tactile outputs on device 300 (e.g., similar to tactile output generator(s) 167 described above with reference to FIG. 1A), sensors 359 (e.g., optical, acceleration, proximity, touch-sensitive, and/or contact intensity sensors similar to contact intensity sensor(s) 165 described above with reference to FIG. 1A). Memory 370 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory devices; and optionally includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 370 optionally includes one or more storage devices remotely located from CPU(s) 310. In some embodiments, memory 370 stores programs, modules, and data structures analogous to the programs, modules, and data structures stored in memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1A), or a subset thereof. Furthermore, memory 370 optionally stores additional programs, modules, and data structures not present in memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100. For example, memory 370 of device 300 optionally stores drawing module 380, presentation module 382, word processing module 384, website creation module 386, disk authoring module 388, and/or spreadsheet module 390, while memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1A) optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above-identified elements in FIG. 3 is optionally stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices. Each of the above-identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a function described above. The above-identified modules or programs (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules is optionally combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 370 optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 370 optionally stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces that are optionally implemented on, for example, portable multifunction device 100.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu of applications on portable multifunction device 100 in accordance with some embodiments. Similar user interfaces are optionally implemented on device 300. In some embodiments, user interface 400 includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

Signal strength indicator(s) 402 for wireless communication(s), such as cellular and Wi-Fi signals;

-   -   Time 404;     -   Bluetooth indicator 405;     -   Battery status indicator 406;     -   Tray 408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:     -   Icon 416 for telephone module 138, labeled “Phone,” which         optionally includes an indicator 414 of the number of missed         calls or voicemail messages;     -   Icon 418 for e-mail client module 140, labeled “Mail,” which         optionally includes an indicator 410 of the number of unread         e-mails;     -   Icon 420 for browser module 147, labeled “Browser;” and     -   Icon 422 for video and music player module 152, also referred to         as iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) module 152, labeled “iPod;”         and     -   Icons for other applications, such as:     -   Icon 424 for IM module 141, labeled “Messages;”     -   Icon 426 for calendar module 148, labeled “Calendar;”     -   Icon 428 for image management module 144, labeled “Photos;”     -   Icon 430 for camera module 143, labeled “Camera;”     -   Icon 432 for online video module 155, labeled “Online Video;”     -   Icon 434 for stocks widget 149-2, labeled “Stocks;”     -   Icon 436 for map module 154, labeled “Maps;”     -   Icon 438 for weather widget 149-1, labeled “Weather;”     -   Icon 440 for alarm clock widget 149-4, labeled “Clock;”     -   Icon 442 for workout support module 142, labeled “Workout         Support;”     -   Icon 444 for notes module 153, labeled “Notes;” and     -   Icon 446 for a settings application or module, labeled         “Settings,” which provides access to settings for device 100 and         its various applications 136.

It should be noted that the icon labels illustrated in FIG. 4A are merely exemplary. For example, icon 422 for video and music player module 152 is optionally labeled “Music” or “Music Player.” Other labels are, optionally, used for various application icons. In some embodiments, a label for a respective application icon includes a name of an application corresponding to the respective application icon. In some embodiments, a label for a particular application icon is distinct from a name of an application corresponding to the particular application icon.

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g., device 300, FIG. 3) with a touch-sensitive surface 451 (e.g., a tablet or touchpad 355, FIG. 3) that is separate from the display 450 (e.g., touch screen display 112). Device 300 also, optionally, includes one or more contact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of sensors 357) for detecting intensity of contacts on touch-sensitive surface 451 and/or one or more tactile output generators 359 for generating tactile outputs for a user of device 300.

Although some of the examples which follow will be given with reference to inputs on touch screen display 112 (where the touch-sensitive surface and the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detects inputs on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display, as shown in FIG. 4B. In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 451 in FIG. 4B) has a primary axis (e.g., 452 in FIG. 4B) that corresponds to a primary axis (e.g., 453 in FIG. 4B) on the display (e.g., 450). In accordance with these embodiments, the device detects contacts (e.g., 460 and 462 in FIG. 4B) with the touch-sensitive surface 451 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display (e.g., in FIG. 4B, 460 corresponds to 468 and 462 corresponds to 470). In this way, user inputs (e.g., contacts 460 and 462, and movements thereof) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 451 in FIG. 4B) are used by the device to manipulate the user interface on the display (e.g., 450 in FIG. 4B) of the multifunction device when the touch-sensitive surface is separate from the display. It should be understood that similar methods are, optionally, used for other user interfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily with reference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contacts, finger tap gestures, finger swipe gestures), it should be understood that, in some embodiments, one or more of the finger inputs are replaced with input from another input device (e.g., a mouse-based input or stylus input). For example, a swipe gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouse click (e.g., instead of a contact) followed by movement of the cursor along the path of the swipe (e.g., instead of movement of the contact). As another example, a tap gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouse click while the cursor is located over the location of the tap gesture (e.g., instead of detection of the contact followed by ceasing to detect the contact). Similarly, when multiple user inputs are simultaneously detected, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are, optionally, used simultaneously, or a mouse and finger contacts are, optionally, used simultaneously.

FIG. 5A illustrates exemplary personal electronic device 500. Device 500 includes body 502. In some embodiments, device 500 can include some or all of the features described with respect to devices 100 and 300 (e.g., FIGS. 1A-4B). In some embodiments, device 500 has touch-sensitive display screen 504, hereafter touch screen 504. Alternatively, or in addition to touch screen 504, device 500 has a display and a touch-sensitive surface. As with devices 100 and 300, in some embodiments, touch screen 504 (or the touch-sensitive surface) optionally has one or more intensity sensors for detecting intensity of contacts (e.g., touches) being applied. The one or more intensity sensors of touch screen 504 (or the touch-sensitive surface) can provide output data that represents the intensity of touches. The user interface of device 500 can respond to touches based on their intensity, meaning that touches of different intensities can invoke different user interface operations on device 500.

Techniques for detecting and processing touch intensity are optionally found, for example, in related applications: International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/US2013/040061, titled “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Displaying User Interface Objects Corresponding to an Application,” filed May 8, 2013, and International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/US2013/069483, titled “Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Transitioning Between Touch Input to Display Output Relationships,” filed Nov. 11, 2013, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

In some embodiments, device 500 has one or more input mechanisms 506 and 508. Input mechanisms 506 and 508, if included, can be physical. Examples of physical input mechanisms include push buttons and rotatable mechanisms. In some embodiments, device 500 has one or more attachment mechanisms. Such attachment mechanisms, if included, can permit attachment of device 500 with, for example, hats, eyewear, earrings, necklaces, shirts, jackets, bracelets, watch straps, chains, trousers, belts, shoes, purses, backpacks, and so forth. These attachment mechanisms optionally permit device 500 to be worn by a user.

FIG. 5B depicts exemplary personal electronic device 500. In some embodiments, device 500 can include some or all of the components described with respect to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 3. Device 500 has bus 512 that operatively couples I/O section 514 with one or more computer processors 516 and memory 518. I/O section 514 can be connected to display 504, which can have touch-sensitive component 522 and, optionally, touch-intensity sensitive component 524. In addition, I/O section 514 can be connected with communication unit 530 for receiving application and operating system data, using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC), cellular, and/or other wireless communication techniques. Device 500 can include input mechanisms 506 and/or 508. Input mechanism 506 is optionally a rotatable input device or a depressible and rotatable input device, for example. Input mechanism 508 is optionally a button, in some examples.

Input mechanism 508 is optionally a microphone, in some examples. Personal electronic device 500 can include various sensors, such as GPS sensor 532, accelerometer 534, directional sensor 540 (e.g., compass), gyroscope 536, motion sensor 538, and/or a combination thereof, all of which can be operatively connected to I/O section 514.

Memory 518 of personal electronic device 500 can be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, for storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by one or more computer processors 516, for example, can cause the computer processors to perform the techniques described above, including processes 700-1000, 1900, and 2000 (FIGS. 7-10, 19, and 20). The computer-executable instructions can also be stored and/or transported within any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. For purposes of this document, a “non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” can be any medium that can tangibly contain or store computer-executable instructions for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can include, but is not limited to, magnetic, optical, and/or semiconductor storages. Examples of such storage include magnetic disks, optical discs based on CD, DVD, or Blu-ray technologies, as well as persistent solid-state memory such as flash, solid-state drives, and the like. Personal electronic device 500 is not limited to the components and configuration of FIG. 5B, but can include other or additional components in multiple configurations.

As used here, the term “affordance” refers to a user-interactive graphical user interface object that is optionally displayed on the display screen of devices 100, 300, and/or 500 (FIGS. 1, 3, and 5). For example, an image (e.g., icon), a button, and text (e.g., hyperlink) optionally each constitutes an affordance.

As used herein, the term “focus selector” refers to an input element that indicates a current part of a user interface with which a user is interacting. In some implementations that include a cursor or other location marker, the cursor acts as a “focus selector” so that when an input (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touchpad 355 in FIG. 3 or touch-sensitive surface 451 in FIG. 4B) while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider or other user interface element), the particular user interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementations that include a touch screen display (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112 in FIG. 1A or touch screen 112 in FIG. 4A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elements on the touch screen display, a detected contact on the touch screen acts as a “focus selector” so that when an input (e.g., a press input by the contact) is detected on the touch screen display at a location of a particular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, or other user interface element), the particular user interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementations, focus is moved from one region of a user interface to another region of the user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor or movement of a contact on a touch screen display (e.g., by using a tab key or arrow keys to move focus from one button to another button); in these implementations, the focus selector moves in accordance with movement of focus between different regions of the user interface. Without regard to the specific form taken by the focus selector, the focus selector is generally the user interface element (or contact on a touch screen display) that is controlled by the user so as to communicate the user's intended interaction with the user interface (e.g., by indicating, to the device, the element of the user interface with which the user is intending to interact). For example, the location of a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, a contact, or a selection box) over a respective button while a press input is detected on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchpad or touch screen) will indicate that the user is intending to activate the respective button (as opposed to other user interface elements shown on a display of the device).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “characteristic intensity” of a contact refers to a characteristic of the contact based on one or more intensities of the contact. In some embodiments, the characteristic intensity is based on multiple intensity samples. The characteristic intensity is, optionally, based on a predefined number of intensity samples, or a set of intensity samples collected during a predetermined time period (e.g., 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10 seconds) relative to a predefined event (e.g., after detecting the contact, prior to detecting liftoff of the contact, before or after detecting a start of movement of the contact, prior to detecting an end of the contact, before or after detecting an increase in intensity of the contact, and/or before or after detecting a decrease in intensity of the contact). A characteristic intensity of a contact is, optionally based on one or more of: a maximum value of the intensities of the contact, a mean value of the intensities of the contact, an average value of the intensities of the contact, a top 10 percentile value of the intensities of the contact, a value at the half maximum of the intensities of the contact, a value at the 90 percent maximum of the intensities of the contact, or the like. In some embodiments, the duration of the contact is used in determining the characteristic intensity (e.g., when the characteristic intensity is an average of the intensity of the contact over time). In some embodiments, the characteristic intensity is compared to a set of one or more intensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has been performed by a user. For example, the set of one or more intensity thresholds optionally includes a first intensity threshold and a second intensity threshold. In this example, a contact with a characteristic intensity that does not exceed the first threshold results in a first operation, a contact with a characteristic intensity that exceeds the first intensity threshold and does not exceed the second intensity threshold results in a second operation, and a contact with a characteristic intensity that exceeds the second threshold results in a third operation. In some embodiments, a comparison between the characteristic intensity and one or more thresholds is used to determine whether or not to perform one or more operations (e.g., whether to perform a respective operation or forgo performing the respective operation) rather than being used to determine whether to perform a first operation or a second operation.

In some embodiments, a portion of a gesture is identified for purposes of determining a characteristic intensity. For example, a touch-sensitive surface optionally receives a continuous swipe contact transitioning from a start location and reaching an end location, at which point the intensity of the contact increases. In this example, the characteristic intensity of the contact at the end location is optionally based on only a portion of the continuous swipe contact, and not the entire swipe contact (e.g., only the portion of the swipe contact at the end location). In some embodiments, a smoothing algorithm is optionally applied to the intensities of the swipe contact prior to determining the characteristic intensity of the contact. For example, the smoothing algorithm optionally includes one or more of: an unweighted sliding-average smoothing algorithm, a triangular smoothing algorithm, a median filter smoothing algorithm, and/or an exponential smoothing algorithm. In some circumstances, these smoothing algorithms eliminate narrow spikes or dips in the intensities of the swipe contact for purposes of determining a characteristic intensity.

The intensity of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface is optionally characterized relative to one or more intensity thresholds, such as a contact-detection intensity threshold, a light press intensity threshold, a deep press intensity threshold, and/or one or more other intensity thresholds. In some embodiments, the light press intensity threshold corresponds to an intensity at which the device will perform operations typically associated with clicking a button of a physical mouse or a trackpad. In some embodiments, the deep press intensity threshold corresponds to an intensity at which the device will perform operations that are different from operations typically associated with clicking a button of a physical mouse or a trackpad. In some embodiments, when a contact is detected with a characteristic intensity below the light press intensity threshold (e.g., and above a nominal contact-detection intensity threshold below which the contact is no longer detected), the device will move a focus selector in accordance with movement of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface without performing an operation associated with the light press intensity threshold or the deep press intensity threshold. Generally, unless otherwise stated, these intensity thresholds are consistent between different sets of user interface figures.

An increase of characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below the light press intensity threshold to an intensity between the light press intensity threshold and the deep press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as a “light press” input. An increase of characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below the deep press intensity threshold to an intensity above the deep press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as a “deep press” input. An increase of characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below the contact-detection intensity threshold to an intensity between the contact-detection intensity threshold and the light press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as detecting the contact on the touch-surface. A decrease of characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity above the contact-detection intensity threshold to an intensity below the contact-detection intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as detecting liftoff of the contact from the touch-surface. In some embodiments, the contact-detection intensity threshold is zero. In some embodiments, the contact-detection intensity threshold is greater than zero.

In some embodiments described herein, one or more operations are performed in response to detecting a gesture that includes a respective press input or in response to detecting the respective press input performed with a respective contact (or a plurality of contacts), where the respective press input is detected based at least in part on detecting an increase in intensity of the contact (or plurality of contacts) above a press-input intensity threshold. In some embodiments, the respective operation is performed in response to detecting the increase in intensity of the respective contact above the press-input intensity threshold (e.g., a “down stroke” of the respective press input). In some embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity of the respective contact above the press-input intensity threshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below the press-input intensity threshold, and the respective operation is performed in response to detecting the subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contact below the press-input threshold (e.g., an “up stroke” of the respective press input).

In some embodiments, the device employs intensity hysteresis to avoid accidental inputs sometimes termed “jitter,” where the device defines or selects a hysteresis intensity threshold with a predefined relationship to the press-input intensity threshold (e.g., the hysteresis intensity threshold is X intensity units lower than the press-input intensity threshold or the hysteresis intensity threshold is 75%, 90%, or some reasonable proportion of the press-input intensity threshold). Thus, in some embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity of the respective contact above the press-input intensity threshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below the hysteresis intensity threshold that corresponds to the press-input intensity threshold, and the respective operation is performed in response to detecting the subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contact below the hysteresis intensity threshold (e.g., an “up stroke” of the respective press input). Similarly, in some embodiments, the press input is detected only when the device detects an increase in intensity of the contact from an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity at or above the press-input intensity threshold and, optionally, a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact to an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity, and the respective operation is performed in response to detecting the press input (e.g., the increase in intensity of the contact or the decrease in intensity of the contact, depending on the circumstances).

For ease of explanation, the descriptions of operations performed in response to a press input associated with a press-input intensity threshold or in response to a gesture including the press input are, optionally, triggered in response to detecting either: an increase in intensity of a contact above the press-input intensity threshold, an increase in intensity of a contact from an intensity below the hysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity above the press-input intensity threshold, a decrease in intensity of the contact below the press-input intensity threshold, and/or a decrease in intensity of the contact below the hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to the press-input intensity threshold. Additionally, in examples where an operation is described as being performed in response to detecting a decrease in intensity of a contact below the press-input intensity threshold, the operation is, optionally, performed in response to detecting a decrease in intensity of the contact below a hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to, and lower than, the press-input intensity threshold.

Exemplary User Interfaces

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”) and associated processes that are optionally implemented on an electronic device, such as portable multifunction device 100, device 300, or device 500 for providing predictive answers.

FIGS. 6A-6C demonstrate exemplary user interfaces that support predictive answers, used in some embodiments. FIG. 6A shows electronic device 600. Electronic device 600 is optionally devices 100, 300, or 500 (FIGS. 1A, 3, and 5A) in some embodiments. In the illustrated example, electronic device 600 is a cellular phone. Device 600 optionally displays a user interface screen provided by a messaging software application. The user interface screen optionally has message transcript 602 showing a conversation between the user of device 600 and one or more participants, such as participant 606. Message transcript 602 optionally includes message 604, received from (a device used by) participant 606.

The content of message 604—“are you going to be around in the next half hour to an hour?”—is a question. In linguistics parlance, this sentence constitutes an interrogatory. Device 600 is able to make this determination that message 604 contains an interrogatory. (As discussed in more detail below, the determination is optionally based on the verbiage “are you” appearing at the beginning of the message and the question mark at the end of the message.) On at least this basis, device 600 displays affordances 610, 612, and 614 horizontally across region 608. Affordances 610, 612, and 614 represent answers that device 600 predicts to be helpful to the user in responding to message 604. As shown, the suggested predictive answers include “yes,” “no,” and “maybe.”

The user of device 600 optionally selects one of the displayed affordances to send the corresponding predictive answer to participant 606. In some embodiments, the selection is optionally made through touch event(s) (e.g., a tap, a swipe, a flick, a hold, etc.). In some embodiments, the selection is optionally made through mouse event(s) (e.g., a hover, click, double-click, drag, etc.). In the example illustrated by FIG. 6B, the user selects affordance 610 (representing “yes”) by contacting (e.g., tapping) the touch-sensitive display of device 600 at the location of affordance 610.

Turning to FIG. 6C, in response the selection of affordance 610, device 600 inserts the corresponding predictive answer (“yes”) into message transcript 602. As shown, the answer “yes” is inserted into region 612. Device 600 optionally also sends the predictive answer to the participant(s) of the on-going conversation, without requiring further user input. In this way, device 600 allows its user to respond to participant 606 quickly and meaningfully, in that the user was able to respond in a relevant manner without having to type out the reply manually.

Region 612 optionally has different visual appearances in different embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, region 612 appears as a message bubble. The phrase “message bubble” is used here consistent with its ordinary meaning in the art to refer to graphic conventions representing a person's speech. Speech bubbles are also sometimes referred to as speech balloons and dialogue balloons. However, affordance 612 need not be limited to a speech bubble; in some embodiments (not shown), region 612 optionally takes on a geometric shape, such as a rectangle having rounded corners or is optionally presented as plain text without a geometric container. More generally speaking, in some embodiments, region 612 is optionally a contiguous display region that is distinct from the background of message transcript 602.

Predictive answer functionalities provide multiple benefits. The availability of predictive answers reduces the cognitive and physical burden on a user who is conversing with other participant(s) in a message conversation, thereby improving user experience and efficiency. In addition to improving user experience, predictive answers can also reduce processor and battery power otherwise wasted on processing the multiple user inputs that would be required to input a responsive message.

Nevertheless, sometimes, it is necessary for a user to type out a more detailed response to an incoming message. Device 600 provides virtual keyboard 620 for this purpose. For example, in response to message 604 (FIG. 6A), the user may wish to clarify that she can stay for 45 minutes, which neither a half hour to a full hour as prompted by message 604. While providing predictive answers, device 600 can also accommodate the additional input modalities of keyboard input. Turning back to FIG. 6A, device 600 optionally displays both virtual keyboard 620 and predictive answers simultaneously. Indeed, in the example of FIG. 6A, region 608 for invoking predictive answers is displayed contiguous with virtual keyboard 620. As a result, a user who is able to reach one input modality (e.g., predictive answers)—while gripping device 600 in a certain way—is also likely to be able to access the other input modality (e.g., virtual keyboard 620) without having to reposition the device. However, as will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the present invention is not limited to placement of the predicted answers modality contiguous with the virtual keyboard 620, and the predicted answers modality can be located anywhere on the screen.

To further provide a seamless user experience across different input modalities, in some embodiments, as the user begins to type using virtual keyboard 620, device 600 switches from providing predictive answers to providing auto-correct recommendations. This aspect is further described via FIG. 6D with reference back to FIG. 6A: When a user begins typing by selecting key 622 (i.e., “y”), device 600 optionally ceases to display predictive answers (e.g., affordances 610, 612, and 614). Instead, device 600 optionally displays auto-correct affordances 624, 626, and 628. In some embodiments, auto-correct affordances 624, 626, and 628 replace predictive answers affordances 610, 612, and 614 (FIG. 6A) in region 608. These auto-correct affordances optionally represent recommendations based on the user's key presses. As shown, in response to the input “y,” device 600 offers “yes,” “yep,” and “ur” as auto-correct recommendations. The user optionally selects one of the auto-correct affordances to send the corresponding recommendation as a message to the participant(s) of the on-going message conversation. In this way, device 600 permits a user to seamless transition between multiple input modalities while retaining the useful features of each modality.

FIGS. 6E-6G demonstrate additional exemplary user interfaces supporting predictive answers in some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 6E, electronic device 600 optionally displays message transcript 630. Message transcript optionally includes message 632 received from participant 640. As discussed above, device 600 is able to determine that message 632 contains an interrogatory, particularly a question about the user's whereabouts in the next half hour to hour. In accordance with this determination, device 600 displays affordances 634, 636, and 638 containing the predictive answers “can't chat now,” “no,” and “yes,” respectively. In the illustrated example, affordances 634, 636, and 638 are displayed horizontally within message transcript 630.

FIG. 6F illustrates an embodiment in which device 600 displays predictive answer affordances in a vertical arrangement within message transcript 648. As shown, predictive answer affordances 642, 644, and 646 are displayed vertically. In addition, as shown, a virtual keyboard (e.g., virtual keyboard 620) is not displayed in order to increase space for the display of message transcript 648. However, device 600 optionally displays a virtual keyboard when a touch event or mouse event on message input field 650 is received. In some embodiments, when the virtual keyboard is invoked, device 600 continues to display affordances 642, 644, and 646 vertically. In some embodiments, if a user invokes the display of a virtual keyboard, device 600 transitions to display affordances 642, 644, and 646 horizontally across one or more rows. Put another way, it is possible for device 600 to transition from the user interface illustrated in FIG. 6F to a user interface screen that is similar to user interface screen 630 (FIG. 6E), if and when the user invokes a virtual keyboard.

Predictive answer affordances 634, 636, 638, 642, 644, and 646 shown in FIGS. 6E and 6F are available for user selection. When a displayed predictive answer affordance is selected, its corresponding message is inserted into the relevant message transcript, and the message is sent to the participant(s) of the ongoing messaging conversation. FIGS. 6G and 6H illustrate this aspect. As shown in FIG. 6G, device 600 optionally displays predictive answer affordances 634, 636, and 638 in view of incoming message 632. A user optionally selects affordance 634 representing the message “can't chat now.” Turning to FIG. 6H, in response to detecting the user selection of affordance 634, device 600 optionally displays the selected predictive answer in message transcript 630. Specifically, the message “can't chat now” is inserted into message bubble 652 in message transcript 654.

Further, as discussed above, when predictive answer affordances 634, 636, 638, 642, 644, and/or 646 are displayed, a user can still type in a message using a virtual keyboard. FIG. 6I describes this aspect. As shown FIG. 6I, when a user begins to type on virtual keyboard 640, device 600 optionally ceases to display predictive answers. Optionally, the device optionally displays auto-correct recommendations. Comparing FIGS. 6I with 6E, when a user selects key 622 (i.e., “y”), affordances 634, 636, and 638 are removed from the display, while auto-correct affordances 624, 626, and 628 become displayed. A user optionally selects one of the auto-correct affordances to insert a corresponding message into the on-going message transcript.

The visual appearance of affordances used to represent predictive answer in different embodiments may vary. Turning back to FIGS. 6E and 6F, in the illustrated embodiments, affordances 634, 636, 638, 642, 644, and 646 are of a rectangular shape with rounded edges. In some embodiments, the affordances take on the visual appearance of message bubbles. In some embodiments, the affordances take on the visual appearance of a geometric shape. In some embodiments, the affordances are optionally contiguous regions that are visually distinct from a background of the message transcript of which it is a part. Also, in the illustrated examples of FIGS. 6E and 6F, affordances 634, 636, 638, 642, 644, and/or 646 have dashed outlines. Dashed outlines are optionally used to emphasize that—while the displayed affordances are available for user selection—their contents have not yet been made part of the message transcript. In other words, a dashed outline optionally indicates that a predictive answer is available for selection but has not yet been sent to other participants in the ongoing conversation.

The visual appearance of affordances used to represent predictive answers—once the affordance is selected—optionally also changes. Turning again to FIGS. 6G and 6H, affordance 634 (representing the predictive answer of “can't chat now”) has a rectangular shape and dashed edges before user selection. Once selected, the content of affordance 634 is displayed inside a message bubble having a solid outline. One of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that other graphic conventions for displaying message bubbles are optionally used. For example, instead of a message bubble having a solid outline, device 600 optionally displays a message bubble filled in a color different from the background of message transcript 654 (FIG. 6H), thereby avoiding the need for any outline to visually distinguish the message bubble. As discussed above, affordance 634 need not be limited to message bubbles, but is optionally of other shapes, as well.

The foregoing examples describe different user interfaces for providing one particular set of predictive answers in response to an exemplary incoming message. The techniques described herein are not limited to just one set of predictive responses. Attention is now directed to other predictive answers can be provided. In FIG. 6J, device 600 is displaying message 660 from participant 662. As shown, message 660 asks question “beef or chicken”? As before, device 600 optionally determines that message 660 contains an interrogatory (based on at least the use of the question mark in the message). In addition, in parsing message 660, device 600 optionally recognizes the interrogatory is one that contains alternative choices, based on the appearance of the word “or” in the message. In this case, device 600 optionally parses the words immediately before and after the word “or”. As applied to the illustrated example, device 600 parses the words “beef” and “chicken” because these words appear immediately before and after “or” in message 660. Device 600 then provides the parsed words as predictive answers. As shown in FIG. 6J, device 600 displays predictive answers affordances 664 and 666 corresponding to “beef” and “chicken,” respectively. Optionally, when an incoming question is (as is the case here) a question that suggests alternative answers, device 600 displays other predictive answers, such as “neither,” “both,” and/or “don't care,” as these answers often can be relevant to interrogatories having alternative answers. In the illustrated example, affordance 668 corresponds to the answer of “don't care.”

The foregoing examples describe predictive answers that are provided only using text characters. The techniques described herein are not limited to just suggesting text characters. Rather, predictive answers can contain other types of suggested characters, including, e.g., emoji's, affordances (e.g., icons), images, and videos. Conceptually, predictive answers can be any type of information as long as the information can be transmitted as a message. For purposes of this disclosure, the term “one or more characters” encompasses all of the above described types of information (e.g., text, emoji's, affordances (e.g., icons), images, videos).

Attention is now directed to these alternative types of predictive answers, with reference to FIGS. 6K-6N. Turning first to FIG. 6K, device 600 optionally displays message transcript 603 having incoming messages 605, 607, and 609. In view of the content of one or more of incoming messages 605, 607, and 609, device 600 optionally displays predictive answer affordance 611 having a telephone affordance (e.g., icon). In this example, if a user selects affordance 611, device 600 initiates a phone call to participant 613. Device 600 optionally decides to display affordance 611 in at least one of two ways. In some embodiments, device 600 recognizes that the contents of most-recently-received message 609 (“can we talk”) as an invitation from participant 613 for voice communication. In some embodiments, device 600 recognizes that participant 613 has sent a large number of messages in quick succession, and thus voice communication is potentially an appropriate, proactive response. The large number is optionally a predetermined threshold set within the software that is running on device 600. In this way, device 600 permits a user to respond to an incoming message by phoning the message's sender.

Although FIG. 6K illustrates an example in which device 600 displays a voice call affordance as a predictive answer, it should be understood that other methods of communication are possible. In some embodiments, device 600 recognizes that the participants to a messaging conversation are using electronic devices that support video calls (e.g., FaceTime® provided by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). In this case, device 600 optionally displays an affordance for invoking a video call. In some embodiments, device 600 additionally considers whether the participants are messaging through specific infrastructures in determining predictive answers. For example, device 600 displays an affordance for invoking a cellular call when the participants are not connected via a wide or local area network, but displays an affordance for invoking a Voice-over-IP call otherwise.

Turning to FIG. 6L, device 600 optionally displays message transcript 615 having incoming message 617. Message 617 contains an inquiry from participant 621 as to John Doe's phone number. In view of this content of message 617, device 600 optionally determines whether it has access to John Doe's contact information. For example, device 600 is optionally able to produce an electronic business card for John Doe based on contact information stored on or otherwise accessible (e.g., through the Cloud) to device 600. If device 600 is able to do so, it displays predictive answer affordance 623 for sending John Doe's electronic business card (e.g., vCard) to participant 621. In addition, device 600 optionally displays predictive answer affordance 619 for sending John Doe's phone number to participant 621. If a user selects affordance 623, device 600 inserts a representation of the vCard into message transcript 615 and sends the corresponding vCard information to participant 621. If a user selects affordance 623, device 600 inserts the phone number 555-1212 into message transcript 615 and sends the number to participant 621. In this way, device 600 permits a user to respond to an incoming message by providing electronic business card information to the message's sender.

Turning to FIG. 6M, device 600 optionally displays message transcript 623 having incoming message 625. Message 625 contains an inquiry from participant 629 as to the location of the user of device 600. In view of this content of message 625, device 600 optionally determines whether it has access to locational information regarding its own whereabouts. For example, device 600 optionally obtains GPS coordinate information from on-board GPS module 136 (FIG. 1A). If location information is available, device 600 displays predictive answer affordance 627 for sending the user/device's location to participant 629. If a user selects affordance 627, device 600 inserts a representation of the user/device's location (e.g., a map image) into message transcript 623 and sends the corresponding location information to the device used by participant 629. In this way, device 600 permits a user to respond to an incoming message by providing locational information to the message's sender.

Turning to FIG. 6N, device 600 optionally displays message transcript 631 having incoming message 635. Message 635 is optionally a message from particular participant-of-interest 641. In some embodiments, participants-of-interest are designated by a user of device 600 (e.g., user favorites). In some embodiments, participants-of-interest are contacts most messaged by the user of device 600. In view of message 635 being sent by participant-of-interest 641, device 600 optionally displays predictive answers that are most likely to be relevant for participant 641. In some embodiments, device 600 considers those answers most-frequently sent to participant 641 as being relevant. In some embodiments, device 600 considers those answers most-recently sent to participant 641 as being relevant. In the illustrated embodiments, device 600 includes emoji icons as possible predictive answers (e.g., affordance 645). If a user selects one of the displayed affordances 645, 637, or 639, device 600 display the corresponding answer in messages transcript 631 and send the corresponding message to participant-of-interest 641. In some embodiments, device 600 ranks the predictive answers and display the highest ranked answer in a specific on-screen location (e.g., as the center affordance in a horizontal arrangement such as FIG. 6A, or as the top affordance in a vertical arrangement such as FIG. 6F). For example, device 600 determines that the phrase “yes, dear” is most frequently sent message to participant 641 and therefore displays the corresponding affordance 637 as the middle affordance in region 643.

Turning to FIG. 6O, device 600 optionally displays message transcript 651 having incoming message 653. Message 653 contains an inquiry from participant 655 as to the time of John's birthday party. In view of this content of message 653, device 600 optionally determines whether it has access to a calendar entry referring to John's birthday party. For example, device 600 is optionally able to produce a calendar invitation titled “John's Birthday” based on calendar information stored on or otherwise accessible (e.g., through the Cloud) to device 600. If device 600 is able to do so, it displays predictive answer affordance 659 for sending a copy of the calendar event to participant 654. In addition, device 600 is optionally able to parse the obtained calendar information to determine that the start time of John's party is 730 pm. If device 600 is able to do so, it displays predictive answer affordance 657 for sending the start time as text to participant 655. If a user selects affordance 657 or 659, the corresponding information (“730 pm” and a calendar event, respectively) is optionally sent to participant 655. Device 600 optionally also inserts a representation of the sent information into message transcript 651.

FIGS. 16A-16H demonstrate exemplary user interfaces that support providing personalized predictive answers based on a history of user responses, in addition to an incoming message, used in some embodiments. FIG. 16A shows electronic device 1600. Electronic device 600 is optionally devices 100, 300, or 500 (FIGS. 1A, 3, and 5A) in some embodiments. In the illustrated example, electronic device 1600 is a cellular phone. Device 1600 is displaying a user interface screen provided by a messaging software application. The user interface screen includes message transcript 1602 showing a conversation between the user of device 1600 and one or more participants, such as participant 1606. Message transcript 1602 optionally includes message 1604, received from (a device used by) participant 1606.

The content of message 1604—“How are you doing?”—is a question. Device 1600 is able to make this determination by, for example, recognizing the verbiage “how” appearing at the beginning of the message and the question mark at the end of the message, as described below. At least partly on this basis, device 1600 displays affordances 1610, 1612, and 1614 horizontally across region 1608. Affordances 1610, 1612, and 1614 represent answers that device 1600 predicts to be helpful to the user in responding to message 1604. As shown in FIG. 16A, the suggested predictive answers for responding to message 1604 include “Good,” “Bad,” and “Ok.”

Sometimes the user wishes to input a response other than the suggested predictive answers. For example, the user may prefer using “Great” instead of “Good” (provided by affordance 1610) in his or her response. As such, the user inputs the response “Great”, instead of selecting the suggested predictive answer “Good”. As seen in FIG. 16B, the user starts typing “Great” by selecting the appropriate keys on virtual keyboard 1620. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that other methods for inputting a text string such as “Great” are acceptable.

Turning to FIG. 16C, the user finishes typing “Great” and sends the response by contacting (e.g., tapping) the touch-sensitive display of device 1600 at the location corresponding to send affordance 1615. In response to the selection of send affordance 1615, device 1600 inserts the message (“Great”) into message transcript 1602 at region 1616.

When device 1600 detects that the user has inputted a response (“Great”) instead of selecting one of the suggested predictive answers (“Good”, “Bad”, “Ok”) to respond to message 1604, device 1600 optionally keeps track of a usage history of the user-inputted response. A usage history of a user's previously inputted response optionally includes the number of times the response (e.g., “Great”) is detected by device 1600 when at least one of the suggested predictive answers provided in region 1608 (FIG. 6A), such as “Good”, was displayed. In some embodiments, this usage history of previously inputted responses is used to adjust (e.g., personalize) the suggested predictive answers for responding to future incoming messages.

Turning to FIG. 16D, device 1600 receives a second message from participant 1606. Device 1600 displays the message 1622 as part of message transcript 1602. The content of the message 1622—“How does breakfast sound?”—is also a question. On at least this basis, device 1600 displays affordances 1610, 1612, and 1614 representing predictive answers across region 1608.

To arrive at these suggested predictive answers, device 1600 optionally, in addition to examining the content of the message as discussed above, also evaluates usage histories of previously user-inputted responses (such as “Great”). In some embodiments, after evaluating message 1622 to identify possible predictive answers, such as “Good”, “Bad”, and “Ok”, device 1600 also determines whether any user-inputted response have been frequently used when at least one of “Good”, “Bad”, or “Ok” was displayed. To put another way, device 1600 seeks to determine if the user frequently uses a response other than the suggested responses of “Good”, “Bad”, or “Ok”. If usage of a previously inputted response exceeds a threshold, device 1600 personalizes what predictive answers it suggests for responding to messages such as 1622 in the future. If the threshold is not exceeded, device 1600 proceeds with the understanding that “Good”, “Bad”, or “Ok” are still relevant to the user for messages like 1622.

In the example of FIG. 16D, in response to receiving message 1622, device 1600 predicts “Good”, “Bad”, and “Ok” as possible answers to message 1622. Furthermore, device 1600 evaluates that the usage of the user-inputted response “Great”, as illustrated in FIGS. 16A-16C, has not exceeded a threshold that warrants inclusion of “Great” into region 1608 as a predicted answer to message 1622. Thus, in FIG. 16D, affordances 1610, 1612, and 1614 represents includes “Good”, “Bad” and “Ok”, which are the same as the suggested predictive answers provided by device 1600 for responding to the earlier message 1604 (“How are you doing?”).

Turning to FIGS. 16E and 16F, in response to message 1622, the user again provides the response of “Great” by typing on virtual keyboard 1620 and selecting send affordance 1615, even though the similar answer of “good” is readily available through a single touch on affordance 1610.

As before, device 1600 optionally detects that the user has again inputted a response (“Great”) instead of selecting one of the suggested predictive answers (“Good”, “Bad”, “Ok”). In some embodiments, device 1600 updates its usage history records to indicate the number of times the response (e.g., “Great”) is detected by device 1600 when at least one of the suggested predictive answers provided in region 1608 (FIG. 6D), such as “Good”, was displayed.

Turning to FIG. 16G, device 1600 receives a third message from participant 1606. Device 1600 displays the message 1626 in message transcript 1602. The content of the message 1626—“How is your appetite?”—is also a question. On at least this basis, device 1600 displays affordances 1610, 1612, and 1614 representing answers that device 1600 predicts to be helpful to the user in responding to message 1626.

Notably, the suggested predicted answers provided by device 1600 responsive to message 1626 is personalized to reflect the user's frequent use of the word “Great” in response to messages where the device had suggested the word “Good” as a predicted answer. In some embodiments, this update of suggested predictive answers occurs when device 1600 recognizes that it had provided “Good”, “Bad”, and “Ok” as suggested predictive answers in the past but its user has frequently chosen to input another response (e.g., “Great”) despite the suggestions. Recognizing this usage pattern, device 1600 displays “Great”, “Bad”, and “Ok” as suggested predictive answers in response to message 1626, by replacing the default suggestion “Good” with the frequently inputted response “Great.” In this way, device 1600 personalizes suggested predictive answers based on a history of user-inputted responses.

The user of device 1600 optionally selects one of the affordances displayed in region 1608 to send the corresponding predictive answer to participant 1606. In some embodiments, the selection is made through touch event(s) (e.g., a tap, a swipe, a flick, a hold, etc.). In some embodiments, the selection is made through mouse event(s) (e.g., a hover, click, double-click, drag, etc.). In the example illustrated by FIG. 16H, the user selects affordance 1610 (representing “Great”) by touching the affordance on the touch-sensitive display of device 1600. In this way, device 1600 allows its user to respond to participant 1606 quickly and meaningfully, in that the user was able to respond as desired without having to type out the desired reply manually.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether a previously user-inputted response (e.g., “Great”) should replace an answer (e.g., “Good”) that is predicted based on an incoming message considers, among other things such as frequency of use of the user-inputted response, and whether the user-inputted response (e.g., “Great”) is synonymous with a predicted answer (e.g., “Good”). If device 1600 determines that the previously user-inputted response is synonymous with a particular predicted answer, and that the usage of the previously user-inputted response has exceeded a threshold, then the device displays the user-inputted response as a suggested predictive answer (as seen by the inclusion of “Great” in FIG. 16G). If, on the other hand, device 1600 determines that the previously user-inputted response is not synonymous with any of the predicted answers, device 1600 foregoes personalizing the suggested predictive answers, and instead rely on “Good”, “Bad”, and “Ok” as originally determined based on the content of an incoming message.

In some embodiments, device 1600 tracks the usage of a previously user-inputted response (e.g., “Great”) by counting the number of times the user-inputted response is detected when a synonymous suggested predictive answer (e.g., “Good”) is displayed. For example, upon determining that the user-inputted response “Great” is synonymous with suggested predictive answer “Good”, device 1600 counts the number of times “Great” is inputted by the user when “Good” is displayed as a suggested predictive answer.

In some embodiments, upon determining that a user-inputted response is synonymous with a particular predicted answer (that was predicted based on the incoming message) and that the usage of the user-inputted response has exceeded a threshold, device 1600 provides the user-inputted response in place of the particular predicted answer. In the example provided above, device 1600 replaces “Good” with “Great” as a suggested predictive answer. In other words, device 1600 displays “Great”, “Bad”, and “Ok” as suggested predictive answers.

In some embodiments, device 1600 identifies a user-inputted response with the highest usage for inclusion into its presentation of suggested predictive answers. For example, if a user frequently inputs “Great” and occasionally inputs “Awesome” when the answer “Good” is predicted, thereby making both “Great” and “Awesome” possible personalized suggestions in place of “Good”, device 1600 optionally displays “Great” over “Awesome” on the basis that “Great” is still chosen more often than “Awesome” when the device receives a message for which “Good” is predicted as a possible answer to the message.

In some embodiments, device 1600 determines whether the user-inputted response is synonymous with a particular predicted answer by determining whether the user-inputted response is in a predefined list of synonymous words associated with the particular predicted answer. For example, device 1600 optionally accesses a pre-defined list of synonymous words associated with the predicted answer “Good”. To determine whether the user-inputted response “Great” is synonymous with “Good”, device 1600 evaluates whether “Great” is in the predefined list. In some embodiments, the pre-defined list is created based on a corpus of how users are carrying on conversations in a language of interest. An example of how such a pre-defined list is created is discussed below with respect to FIG. 18. In some embodiments, the pre-defined listed is obtained from an authority such as a thesaurus. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the device can account for multiple pre-defined lists corresponding to different languages of interest, or that pre-defined list(s) can be arranged to encompass multiple languages of interest.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether a previously user-inputted response (e.g., “Great”) should replace an answer (e.g., “Good”) that is predicted based on an incoming message considers the number of times the user-inputted response was detected as a response to messages of a particular message class. For example, to provide suggested predictive answers for responding to a message “How are you feeling today?”, device 1600 determines that the received message belongs to the message class of QueryEvaluation, and proceeds to determine the usage of a user-inputted response “Great” by counting the number of times “Great” was used as a response to a QueryEvalution message. Techniques used to identify message classes in various embodiments are described below.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether a previously user-inputted response (e.g., “Great”) should replace an answer (e.g., “Good”) that is predicted based on an incoming message considers the identity of the sender of a particular message. For example, device 1600 optionally determines the usage of the user-inputted response by counting the number of times the user-inputted response was used as a response to the sender. For example, when determining suggested predictive answers for responding to a message from participant 1606 (“Eliza”), device 1600 optionally counts the time of times user-inputted response “Great” was used to respond to messages from Eliza, and determine if the usage of “Great” exceeds a threshold for it to be provided as a suggested predictive answer for responding to the present message from participant 1606.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether a previously user-inputted response (e.g., “Great”) should replace an answer (e.g., “Good”) that is predicted based on an incoming message considers the location of device 1600. For example, when device 1600 is at a particular location when a particular message is received, device 1600 optionally determines the usage of the user-inputted response by counting the number of times the user-inputted response was used as a response when device 1600 was at the particular location, and determine suggested predictive answers for the particular message based on the usage at the location. In some embodiments, location of device 1600 when the particular message is displayed is used in place of the location of device 1600 when the message was received.

FIGS. 16I-16O depict exemplary user interfaces that demonstrate the updating of personalized predictive answers based on a user's evolving word choice, provided in some embodiments. Turning to FIG. 16I, device 1600 displays a received message 1626 (“How do you feel about eating close by?”). Device 1600 also displays affordances 1610, 1612, and 1614, which represent suggested predictive answers “Great”, “Bad”, and “Ok” in response to incoming message 1626. The suggested predictive answer “Great” is personalized for “Good”, based on a history of the user's responses, using techniques discussed above with respect to FIG. 16A-16H.

FIGS. 16J and 16K demonstrate a change in the user's preferred expression, particularly in that the user can be seen as inputting “Super duper” in response to message 1630 instead of responding with “Great”. Consistent with the discussions of FIGS. 16A-16H, device 1600 maintains a usage history of the user having inputted “Super duper” even though suggested predictive answers (e.g., the personalized predicted answer “Great”) were displayed.

Turning to FIG. 16L, device 1600 receives another message 1634 from participant 1606 and displays the message in message transcript 1602. Device 1600 displays affordances 1610, 1612, and 1614, which represent suggested predictive answers “Great”, “Bad”, and “Ok”, as before, based on the user's usage history as of the moment.

It is noted that, to arrive at these answers, device 1600 is evaluating the usage histories of multiple previously user-inputted responses that are synonymous to a predicted answer. Restated, device 1600 tracks how often “Great” and “Super duper”, which it understands to be synonymous with “Good”, is inputted by the user despite the presentation of a synonymous predictive answer (e.g., “Good” or “Great”) in region 1608.

Turning to FIG. 16M, while device 1600 suggests predictive answers “Great”, “Bad”, and “Ok” for responding to message 1634, the user again choses to input “Super duper” by typing on virtual keyboard 1620 as a response to the question posed by message 1634, such that message 1636 is added to messaging transcript 1602.

FIG. 16N illustrates that device 1600 can recognize the user's evolved preference for “Super duper” over “Great” as an expression, and update its personalization of predicted answers accordingly. As can be seen, when device 1600 receives and places into messaging transcript 1602 the new incoming message 1638, which, similar to messages 1626 and 1634, also contains a question, the device now presents “Super duper” in place of “Great” as a personalized predictive answer. The user may thus respond to message 1638 by selecting affordance 1610 representing the updated, personalized, predictive answer “Super duper”. In this way, device 1600 updates its personalization of predictive answers based on its user's evolving word choices in expression, thereby continuing to reduce the user's need to manually type out messages in their entirety.

In some embodiments, device 1600 displays additional predictive answers in response to certain input. This aspect is discussed with respect to FIGS. 16O and 16P. For example, FIG. 16O illustrates device 1600 responding to a forceful touch input at the location of affordance 1610. Responsive to the forceful touch input, device 1600 reveals additional affordances 1640 and 1642 representing predictive answers that can be selected for inclusion in messaging transcript 1602. Restated, in response to a touch input at the location of affordance 1610 that exceeds a threshold characteristic intensity, device 1600 displays additional affordances 1640 and 1642 representing additional predictive answers that can be used for responding to message 1636.

As another example, device 1600 reveals additional affordances 1640 and 1642 in response to a selection (e.g., touch) on affordance 1610 that lasts for longer than a predetermined threshold interval. Restated, in response to a touch of long time duration at the location of affordance 1610 that exceeds a threshold duration, device 1600 displays additional affordances 1640 and 1642 representing additional predictive answers that can be used for responding to message 1636.

As another example, FIG. 16P illustrates device 1600 responding to a scrolling input at region 1608. Responsive to a leftward scroll input, the affordances shown in region 1608 shift to reveal additional affordance 1650 representing another predictive answer. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that, in embodiments where affordances representing predictive answers are arranged vertically (1610, 1612, and 1614), that additional affordances can be revealed by swiping vertically.

In some embodiments, device 1600 adds frequently inputted responses to its display of suggested predicted answers, regardless of whether the frequently inputted response is synonymous to an answer that is predicted based on the incoming message. For example, device 1600 optionally determines that the phrase “LOL” is the most frequently inputted response by the user. As such, device 1600 optionally adds “LOL” to the suggested predictive answers whenever suggested predictive answers are provided to the user. In another example, device 1600 adds “LOL” to the suggested predictive answers when a certain class of incoming message (e.g., a question) is received. As shown in FIG. 16P, device 1600 can display affordance 1650 representing the suggested predictive answer “LOL” in region 1608, even if “LOL” is not determined to be synonymous to any of the other suggested predictive answers.

In some embodiments, personalized predictive answers include characters such as emoji's as well as representations of images and videos. This aspect is discussed with reference to FIGS. 17A-17E. FIG. 17A depicts electronic device 1700 which is device 100, 300, or 500 (FIGS. 1A, 3, and 5A) in various embodiments. In the illustrated example, electronic device 1700 is a cellular phone. Device 1700 is displaying a user interface, provided by a messaging application, having message transcript 1702. Transcript 1702 shows a conversation between the user of device 1700 and one or more participants, such as participant 1706. Message transcript 1702 includes incoming message 1704 from participant 1706. Message 1704 contains the question of “How are you doing?” Based at least in part of this content, device 1700 displays predictive answers “Good,” “Bad,” and “Ok”, represented by corresponding affordances 1710, 1712, and 1714 in region 1708, for responding to message 1704.

Turning to FIG. 17B, instead of responding to message 1704 by selecting one of the displayed predictive answers, the user of device 1704 uses virtual keyboard 1720 to input emoji character 1716 which depicts a sad face.

Turning to FIG. 17C, device 1700 receives into messaging transcript 1702 a second incoming message 1724, which also contains a question. Based at least in part on the content of message 1724, device 1700 again displays predictive answers “Good,” “Bad,” and “Ok” in region 1708 for responding to the message.

Turning to FIG. 17D, instead of responding to message 1724 by selecting one of the displayed predictive answers, the user of device 1704 again uses virtual keyboard 1720 to input the same sad-faced emoji character 1716, which was also inputted previously in response to incoming message 1704.

It is noted that device 1700 tracks the manual input of emoji character 1716 in response to incoming messages where predicted answers have been displayed for user selection. More specifically, in the examples of FIGS. 17A-17D, device 1700 tracks that the user has inputted emoji character 1716 even when the synonymous predictive answer “Bad”—which device 1700 considers to be synonymous with sad-faced emoji 1716—is displayed for user selection.

Turning to FIG. 17E, device 1700 receives into messaging transcript 1702 a third 1724 message from participant 1706. Based at least in part on the content of message 1724, device 1700 initially determines that predictive answers “Good,” “Bad”, and “Ok” may be appropriate suggestions. Further, based at least in part on the user's history of inputting sad-faced emoji character 1716 when the predictive answer “Bad” had been suggested, device 1700 personalizes the presentation of predictive answers such that sad-faced emoji character 1716 appears in region 1708 instead of the word “Bad”.

One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that images such as such as GIF or JPEG images can replace emoji character 1716 in the example discussed with respect to FIGS. 17A-17E.

Determination of Synonymous Responses

As discussed above with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17, techniques for personalizing predictive answers considers whether responses that are manually inputted by a user are synonymous with answers that are predicted by the device, with the goal that should a user frequently input responses that are different yet synonymous with device-predicted answers, then the device's presentation of predicted answers should be personalized to include those frequent previously-inputted responses.

In some embodiments, a predetermined list of synonymous characters is used to determine if a user-inputted response is synonymous with a device-predicted answer. For example, a device can determine if “Great”, inputted by the user, is to be considered synonymous with the device's predicted answer of “Good”, by determining if the two are associated with one another according to a list of synonyms.

In some embodiments, a list of synonymous characters is created using a machine learning approach. As an initial step, a data set that comprises conversations in language of interest is obtained from a conversational medium. In some examples, the medium is a messaging service such as Twitter, Weibo, or the like. In some examples, the size of the data set has an order of magnitude of terabytes or petabytes.

From the large data set, the most frequently appearing n-grams are identified for additional processing. In some examples, n-grams where n ranges from one to four are identified. In some examples, a threshold for determining whether a particular n-gram is to be considered frequently-appearing is set based on the data size and the actual distribution of frequency. Processing of frequently appearing n-gram involve compounding items in those n-grams, meaning that, for example, “super duper” is transformed into “super_duper”.

The transformed data set is used to train a vector space model. Based on the use of compounded n-grams in the data set, the vector space model can identify the K neighbors that are closet to a given predictive answer of interest (e.g., Good) using a distance metric. Restated, the trained vector space model may identify words such as “great”, “groovy”, “awesome”, so forth, to have been used similarly as the word “good”, across the many conversations that are represented in the data set, where the notion of similarity is controlled by the use of a specified distance metric in the machine learning context. In some embodiments, the distance metric is a cosine distance metric.

The use of a vector space model to derive relationships between compounded n-grams is optionally visualized with reference to FIG. 18, where the trained vector space model is visualized as having arranged (transformed) n-grams into clusters based on their use in the underlying data set. In particular, transformed n-grams that are adjacent within the meaning of the specified distance metric are considered as belonging to a cluster. For example, cluster 1812 includes n-grams that are used similarly in the underlying data set of messages. In some embodiments, the n-grams appearing in cluster 1812 are then considered to be synonymous with one another, thereby producing a list of synonyms 1830. For example, the word “good” is associated with “great”, “awesome,” “super duper”, among others, as being synonymous in list 1812. As discussed above with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17, the understanding that “good” is synonymous with words such as “great” and “super duper” can be used to provide personalized predicted answers for responding to messages on an electronic device.

One benefit offered by this technique for determining synonymous responses (e.g., one or more characters) is that the notion of what is synonymous tracks actual usage of responses in practice. Another benefit offered by this technique is that the technique can be applied to various languages of interest to obtain synonyms in various languages. Another benefit offered by this technique is that the list of synonyms can be reviewed to prune inappropriate expressions such that an electronic device refrains from presenting the inappropriate expressions as personalized predicted answers.

Exemplary Processes

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating process 700 for providing predictive answers. Process 700 is optionally performed at an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, like devices 100, 300, and 500 (FIGS. 1A, 3, and 5A). At block 702, the device displays a message transcript, the message transcript including at least one message from at least a first user. At block 704, the device determines, based at least in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters. These suggested one or more characters are optionally drawn from the examples of predictive answers discussed above with reference to FIGS. 6A-6O, for example. At block 706, the device displays, on its touch-sensitive display, the plurality of suggested one or more characters. The display is optionally drawn from the examples of user interface layouts described above with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6E, and 6F, for example. At block 708, the device detects an input on the touch-sensitive display. At block 710, the device determines whether the input represents user selection of one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters. At block 710, the device, in accordance with a determination that the input represents user selection of one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters, displays the selected one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters in the message transcript.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating process 800 for providing predictive answers. Process 800 is optionally performed at an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, like devices 100, 300, and 500 (FIGS. 1A, 3, and 5A). At block 802, the device displays, in a first region of the display, a message transcript, the message transcript including at least one message from at least a first user. At block 804, the device displays, in a second region of the display, a virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number of character keys. At block 806, the device displays, in a third region of the display, a plurality of suggested one or more characters, the plurality of suggested characters determined based, at least in-part, on a content of the at least one message received from the first user. In some embodiments, the third region is displayed contiguous with one of the first and second regions. In some embodiments, the third region is displayed contiguous with the first and second regions. At block 808, optionally, the device detects input representing user selection of a suggested one or more characters from the displayed plurality of one or more characters. At block 810, optionally, in response to in response to detecting the input, the device displays the selected suggested one or more characters into the message transcript in the first area.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating process 900 for providing predictive answers. Process 900 is optionally performed at an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, like devices 100, 300, and 500 (FIGS. 1A, 3, and 5A). At block 902, the device displays a message transcript, the message transcript including at least one message from at least a first user. At block 904, the device determines, based at least in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters. At block 906, the device displays a first suggested one or more characters of the plurality of suggested one or more characters in a first region on the touch-sensitive display. The region is optionally a contiguous region visually distinguished from the background of the message transcript. At block 908, optionally, the device detects input representing a contact on a displayed text input area, and in response to detecting the input, displays a virtual keyboard. The displayed virtual keyboard optionally includes a number of character keys. At block 910, optionally, the device detects keyboard input representing one or more contacts on the virtual keyboard, and in response to detecting the keyboard input, the device ceases to the display the first suggested one or more characters.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating process 1000 for providing predictive answers. Process 1000 is optionally performed at an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, like device 100 (FIG. 1), device 300 (FIG. 3), and device 500 (FIG. 5A). At block 1002, the device displays a message transcript, the message transcript including at least one message from at least a first user. At block 1004, the device determines, based at least in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters. At block 1006, the device displays a first affordance representing a first suggested one or more characters of the plurality of suggested one or more characters at the bottom of the message transcript. At block 1008, optionally, the device detects input representing user selection of the first affordance, and in response to detecting the input, sends the first suggested response to the first user. At block 1010, optionally, in response to detecting the input, the device displays the first suggested one or more characters in the message transcript.

It should be understood that the particular order in which the operations in FIGS. 7-10 have been described is merely exemplary and is not intended to indicate that the described order is the only order in which the operations could be performed. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize various ways to reorder the operations described herein. Additionally, it should be noted that processes 700-1000 optionally additionally incorporate the functionalities described about with respect to FIGS. 6A-6J to produce new processes and user interfaces. For example, the switching of displays of predictive answers and auto-correct recommendations, described with respect to FIGS. 6A and 6D, for example, is optionally incorporated into processes 700-1000 (FIGS. 7-10.) Likewise, the sending of business card information and calendar information described with respect to FIGS. 6E-6O are optionally also be incorporated into processes 700-1000 (FIGS. 7-10.) Further, the displaying of a telephone affordances can be implemented across each of the user interfaces descried in FIGS. 6A, 6E, and 6F. For brevity, these details are not repeated here.

One common aspect of the above-described techniques is that a device needs to process an incoming message(s) to identify predictive answers for the message. In some embodiments, this processing entails two steps: first, the device parse an incoming message and assigns a message class to the content of a message; second, the device performs a lookup for corresponding predictive answers based on the message class, and composes an appropriate set of predictive answers based on the content of the incoming message.

The first step of assigning a message to a message class is optionally performed using a rule-based engine. In some embodiments, the rule based engine assigns a message class based (at least in-part) on the occurrence of one or more words in the message. As discussed above, examples of such words include “are you” and “or.” In some embodiments, the rule based engine assigns a message class based (at least in-part) on the occurrence of a punctuation mark used in the message. As discussed above, examples of such punctuations include the use of a question mark. In some embodiments, the rule based engine assigns a message class based (at least in-part) on the use of an honorific in the message. Examples of such honorifics include the use of suffixes such as “-san” in a message. More generally speaking, in some embodiments, a rule based engine that identifies relevant language markers such as auxiliaries and interrogative pronouns is optionally used to determine message classes. In some embodiments, a rule based engine that identifies syntactic constructs such as verb-predicate inversions is optionally used. Table 1, below, lists exemplary classes of messages.

TABLE 1 Message Class Example [Comment] GenericStatement The sky is blue. [requires no answer] GenericQuestion Who?/What?/Where? [requires precise answer] StatementOrQuestion I’m ready. [may require acknowledgement] QueryPolar Will you come? QueryPolarDefinite Have you left yet? QueryPolarRequest Can you drive? QueryAlternative Shall we walk or drive? QueryEvaluation How was it? QueryReason Why?/How come? QueryLocationSelf Where are you? QueryDistance How close?/How far? QueryCountable How many cups? QueryUncountable How much sugar? QueryTime When?/What time? QueryTimePast When did you arrive? QueryTimeFuture When will you leave? QueryTimeOfDay What time tomorrow? QueryDay What day? QueryMonth What month? QueryYear What year? QueryDuration How long? StatementGreeting Hello. StatementImperative Let's go. StatementAppreciation Thank you.

Once a message class has been identified, the device optionally looks-up possible predictive answers for the particular class. Table 2, below, lists exemplary mapping of predictive answers to message classes.

TABLE 2 Message Class Response Set GenericStatement Ok/Thanks GenericQuestion Not sure StatementOrQuestion Ok/Yes/No QueryPolar Yes/No/I don't know QueryPolarDefinite Yes/No QueryPolarRequest Sure thing/Sorry, no QueryAlternative Predicate before or/Predicate after or QueryEvaluation Good/Bad/Ok QueryReason Just because/I don't know QueryLocationSelf On my way/In my car/At work/At home QueryDistance Close/Far QueryCountable One/Two/A few/A lot QueryUncountable A little/A lot QueryTime Early/Late QueryTimePast Yesterday/Earlier this week/A while ago QueryTimeFuture Tomorrow/Later this week/In the near future QueryTimeOfDay Morning/Afternoon/Evening QueryDay Today/Tomorrow/Yesterday QueryMonth Thist month/Next month/Last month QueryYear This year/Next year/Last year QueryDuration 15 mins/30 mins/An hour StatementGreeting Hi/Hello StatementImperative Ok/Sorry, can't StatementAppreciation You're welcome/No problem/Ok

FIGS. 19A-19C depict a flow diagram illustrating process 1900 for providing personalized predictive answers in some embodiments. Process 1900 is optionally performed at an electronic device with a display and one or more input devices, like devices 100, 300, and 500 (FIGS. 1A, 3, and 5A). At block 1902, the device displays, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user. At block 1920, the device determines, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message. At block 1906, the device determines whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters (i) is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters, and (ii) was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed. In some embodiments, at optional block 1908, the device determines whether the previously inputted one or more characters is synonymous with a particular suggested one or more characters of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters. In some embodiments, at optional block 1910, the device determines whether the previously inputted one or more characters is in a predefined plurality of synonymous words associated with the particular suggested one or more characters. In some embodiments, at optional block 1912, the device obtains text comprising responses to a corresponding message; arranges, using a vector space model, the responses into a plurality of clusters based on a distance metric, where responses of a cluster are within a distance of one another; and creates the pre-defined plurality of synonymous words based on a cluster of the plurality of clusters of responses. In some embodiments, at optional block 1914, determine the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters by counting the number of times the previously inputted one or more characters is detected when the particular suggested one or more characters is displayed.

In some embodiments, in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, the device displays the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message at block 1916; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, the device displays the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message at block 1920.

In some embodiments, in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold and the determination that the previously inputted one or more characters is synonymous, the device displays the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message, at block 1918; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold or the determination that the previously inputted one or more characters is not synonymous, the device displays the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message, at block 1922.

FIG. 20 depicts a flow diagram illustrating process 2000 for providing personalized predictive answers in some embodiments. Process 2000 is optionally performed at an electronic device with a display and one or more input devices, like devices 100, 300, and 500 (FIGS. 1A, 3, and 5A). At block 2002, the device displays on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a first message received from a user. At block 2004, the device determines, based at least in-part on the first message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the first message. At block 2006, the device displays, on the display screen, the plurality of suggested one or more characters. At block 2008, the device detects, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, an input representing a response to the first message, wherein the response comprises one or more characters, and wherein the response is not one of the displayed plurality of suggested one or more characters. At block 2010, the device determines whether usage of the response exceeds a threshold. At block 2012, the device receives a second message into the message transcript. At block 2014, responsive to receiving the second message, the device: (i) in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response exceeds the threshold, displays the response as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message; and (ii) in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response does not exceed the threshold, display the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

It should be understood that the particular order in which the operations in FIGS. 19 and 20 have been described is merely exemplary and is not intended to indicate that the described order is the only order in which the operations could be performed. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize various ways to reorder the operations described herein. Additionally, it should be noted that processes 1900-2000 optionally additionally incorporate the functionalities described about with respect to FIGS. 6A-6O, 16A-16P, 17A-17E, and 18 to produce new processes and user interfaces. For example, the determination of whether a previously inputted response is synonymous with a predicted answer, described with respect to FIG. 18, is optionally incorporated process 1900 and 2000. Likewise, the sending of business card information and calendar information described with respect to FIGS. 6E-6O are optionally also be incorporated into processes 1900-2000 (FIGS. 19-20.) For brevity, these details are not repeated here.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 11 shows a functional block diagram of an electronic device 1100 configured in accordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. The functional blocks of the device are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of the various described embodiments. It is understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 11 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of the various described embodiments. Therefore, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 11, an electronic device 1100 includes a display unit 1102 configured to display various graphical object including messages and predictive answers information; a touch-sensitive surface unit 1104 configured to receive user input; a RF unit 1106 configured to communicate with other electronic devices; and a processing unit 1108 coupled to the afore-mentioned units. In some embodiments, processing unit 1108 includes a message parsing unit 1110 that reads an incoming message to identify, for example, the class of an incoming message. Processing unit 1108 optionally also includes predictive answer determining 1112 configured to provide predictive answers based on the results of the parsing unit.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 12 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of an electronic device 1200 configured in accordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. In accordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronic device 1200 are configured to perform the techniques described above. The functional blocks of the device 1200 are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of the various described examples. It is understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 12 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 12, an electronic device 1200 includes a touch-sensitive display unit 1202 configured to display a graphic user interface and to receive contacts, and a processing unit 1204 coupled to the touch-sensitive display unit 1202. In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 includes display enabling unit 1206, determining unit 1208, detecting unit 1210, sending unit 1212, display ceasing unit 1214, identifying unit 1216, obtaining unit 1218, counting unit 1220, and ranking unit 1222.

The processing unit 1204 is configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of a message transcript, the message transcript including at least one message from at least a first user. The processing unit 1204 is further configured to determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208), based at least in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters. The processing unit 1204 is further configured to enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206), on the touch-sensitive display unit 1202, of the plurality of suggested one or more characters. The processing unit 1204 is further configured to detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1210) an input on the touch-sensitive display unit. The processing unit 1204 is further configured to determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) whether the input represents user selection of one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters. The processing unit 1204 is further configured to, in accordance with a determination that the input represents user selection of one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters, enable display (e.g., using disable enabling unit 1206) of the selected one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters in the message transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1210) a second input on the touch-sensitive display unit, the second input representing user selection of a confirmation affordance, and in response to detecting the second input, send (e.g., using sending unit 1212) the selected one or more characters to the first user.

In some embodiments, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of a virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number of character keys; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1210) keyboard input representing one or more contacts on the virtual keyboard; and, in response to detecting the keyboard input: cease to display (e.g., using display ceasing unit 1214) the plurality of suggested one or more characters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of, in the third region, auto-correct information based on the keyboard input.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least one word used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) a use of the word “or” in the at least one message; identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) a preceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; and identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) a subsequent word that appears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: enabling display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of at least the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) whether the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence; and, in accordance with a determination that the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of at least “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least the identity of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) the most-frequently-sent messages to the first user, wherein: enabling display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display the most-frequently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) the most-recently-sent messages to the first user, and wherein enabling display of (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of at least one of the most-recently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least a location of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) a location of the electronic device, and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance for sending the location as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least one calendar entry stored in the electronic device.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1218) a calendar entry based on the message received from the first user; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance for sending at least a portion of the obtained calendar entry as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least an honorific used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1218) a plurality of contact names stored on the electronic device; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1210) the use of a contact name of the plurality of contact names in the at least one message; obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1218) contact information corresponding to the used contact name; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance for sending at least a portion of the obtained contact information as a message to the second user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance for calling a phone number associated with the obtained contact information.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: count (e.g., using counting unit 1220) the number of messages received from the first user within a time interval; and, in accordance with a determination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance for calling the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: count (e.g., using counting unit 1220) the number of messages received from the first user within a time interval; and in accordance with a determination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance for video conferencing the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to: rank (e.g., using ranking unit 1222) the suggested one or more characters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of the top-ranked characters in the center most position among the displayed suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters consists of a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises at least one emoji. In some embodiments, the at least one message is the most-recently-received message from the first user.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 7 are, optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 12. For example, displaying operation 702, determining operation 704, and detecting operation 708 are optionally implemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application 136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information to respective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contact at a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event, such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 13 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of an electronic device 1300 configured in accordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. In accordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronic device 1300 are configured to perform the techniques described above. The functional blocks of the device 1300 are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of the various described examples. It is understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 13 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 13, an electronic device 1300 includes a touch-sensitive display unit 1302 configured to display objects and to receive contacts and a processing unit 1304 coupled to the touch-sensitive display unit 1302. In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 includes display enabling unit 1306, determining unit 1308, detecting unit 1310, sending unit 1312, display ceasing unit 1314, identifying unit 1316, obtaining unit 1318, counting unit 1320, and ranking unit 1322.

The processing unit 1304 is configured to: enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of, in a first region of the display, a message transcript, the message transcript including at least one message from at least a first user; enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of, in a second region of the display, a virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number of character keys; and enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of, in a third region of the display, a plurality of suggested one or more characters, the plurality of suggested characters determined based, at least in-part, on a content of the at least one message received from the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of the third region contiguous with at least one of the first and second regions.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of the third region contiguous with the first region and the second region.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1310) input representing user selection of a suggested one or more characters from the displayed plurality of one or more characters; and in response to detecting the input, enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of the selected suggested one or more characters into the message transcript in the first area.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1310) second input representing user selection of a confirmation affordance; and in response to detecting the second input, send (e.g., using sending unit 1312) the selected suggested one or more characters to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1310) keyboard input representing one or more contacts on the virtual keyboard; in response to detecting the keyboard input: cease to display (e.g., using display ceasing unit 1314) the plurality of suggested one or more characters; and enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of, in the third region, auto-correct information based on the keyboard input.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least one word used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) a use of the word “or” in the at least one message; identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) a preceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; and identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) a subsequent word that appears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: enabling display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of at least the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) whether the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence; and in accordance with a determination that the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence, enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of at least “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least the identity of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) the most-frequently-sent messages to the first user, wherein: displaying the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises displaying the most-frequently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) the most-recently-sent messages to the first user, and wherein: displaying the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises displaying at least one of the most-recently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least a location of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) a location of the electronic device, and enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance for sending the location as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least one calendar entry stored in the electronic device.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: obtain (e.g., using determining unit 1318) a calendar entry based on the message received from the first user; and enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance for sending at least a portion of the obtained calendar entry as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least an honorific used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: obtain (e.g., using determining unit 1318) a plurality of contact names stored on the electronic device; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1310) the use of a contact name of the plurality of contact names in the at least one message; obtain (e.g., using determining unit 1318) contact information corresponding to the used contact name; and enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance for sending at least a portion of the obtained contact information as a message to the second user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance for calling a phone number associated with the obtained contact information.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: count (e.g., using counting unit 1320) the number of messages received from the first user within a time interval; and in accordance with a determination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance for calling the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: count (e.g., using counting unit 1320) the number of messages received from the first user within a time interval; and in accordance with a determination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance for video conferencing the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to: rank (e.g., using ranking unit 1322) the suggested one or more characters; and enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of the top-ranked characters in the center most position among the displayed suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters consists of a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises at least one emoji. In some embodiments, the at least one message is the most-recently-received message from the first user.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 8 are, optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 13. For example, displaying operation 802 and detecting operation 808 are optionally implemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application 136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information to respective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contact at a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event, such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 14 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of an electronic device 1400 configured in accordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. In accordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronic device 1400 are configured to perform the techniques described above. The functional blocks of the device 1400 are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of the various described examples. It is understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 14 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 14, an electronic device 1400 includes a touch-sensitive display unit 1402 configured to display objects and to receive contacts and a processing unit 1404 coupled to the touch-sensitive display unit 1402. In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 includes display enabling unit 1406, determining unit 1408, detecting unit 1410, sending unit 1412, display ceasing unit 1414, identifying unit 1416, obtaining unit 1418, counting unit 1420, ranking unit 1422, and display replacing unit 1424.

The processing unit 1404 is configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of a message transcript, the message transcript including at least one message from at least a first user; determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408), based at least in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of a first suggested one or more characters of the plurality of suggested one or more characters in a first region on the touch-sensitive display unit, wherein the first region is a contiguous region visually distinguished from the background of the message transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) input representing user selection of the first suggested one or more characters; and in response to detecting the input, send (e.g., using sending unit 1412) the suggested response to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of a text input area; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) input representing a contact on the text input area; and in response to detecting the input, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of a virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number of character keys.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) keyboard input representing one or more contacts on the virtual keyboard; and in response to detecting the keyboard input, cease to display (e.g., using display ceasing unit 1414) the first suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of auto-correct information based on the keyboard input.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: in response to detecting the input, cease to display the (e.g., using display ceasing unit 1414) first suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the first region has a dashed outline.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) input representing user selection of the first suggested one or more characters; and in response to detecting the input, replace (e.g., using display replacing unit 1424) the dashed outline of the first region with a solid outline.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of a second suggested one or more characters of the plurality of suggested one or more characters in a second region on the touch-sensitive display unit, wherein the second region is a contiguous region visually distinguished from the background of the message transcript and from the first region; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) input representing user selection of the first suggested one or more characters; and, in response to detecting the input, cease to display (e.g., using display ceasing unit 1414) the second region and the second suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the first region is a message bubble.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least one word used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) a use of the word “or” in the at least one message; identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) a preceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; and identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) a subsequent word that appears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: enabling display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of at least the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) whether the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence; and in accordance with a determination that the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of at least “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least the identity of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) the most-frequently-sent messages to the first user, wherein: enabling display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of the most-frequently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) the most-recently-sent messages to the first user, and wherein: enabling display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of at least one of the most-recently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least a location of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) a location of the electronic device, and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance for sending the location as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least one calendar entry stored in the electronic device.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1418) a calendar entry based on the message received from the first user; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance for sending at least a portion of the obtained calendar entry as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least an honorific used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1418) a plurality of contact names stored on the electronic device; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) the use of a contact name of the plurality of contact names in the at least one message; obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1418) contact information corresponding to the used contact name; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance for sending at least a portion of the obtained contact information as a message to the second user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance for calling a phone number associated with the obtained contact information.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: count (e.g., using counting unit 1420) the number of messages received from the first user within a time interval; and, in accordance with a determination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance for calling the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: count (e.g., using counting unit 1420) the number of messages received from the first user within a time interval; and, in accordance with a determination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance for video conferencing the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to: rank (e.g., using ranking unit 1422) the suggested one or more characters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of the top-ranked characters in the center most position among the displayed suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters consists of a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises at least one emoji. In some embodiments, the at least one message is the most-recently-received message from the first user.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 9 are, optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 14. For example, displaying operation 902, determining operation 904, and detecting operation 908 are optionally implemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application 136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information to respective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contact at a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event, such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 15 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of an electronic device 1500 configured in accordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. In accordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronic device 1500 are configured to perform the techniques described above. The functional blocks of the device 1500 are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of the various described examples. It is understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 15 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 15, an electronic device 1500 includes a touch-sensitive display unit 1502 configured to display a graphic user interface and to receive contacts, and a processing unit 1504 coupled to the touch-sensitive display unit 1502. In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 includes a display enabling unit 1506, determining unit 1508, detecting unit 1510, sending unit 1512, display ceasing unit 1514, identifying unit 1516, obtaining unit 1518, counting unit 1520, and ranking unit 1522.

The processing unit 1504 is configured to: enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) display of a message transcript, the message transcript including at least one message from at least a first user; determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508), based at least in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of a first affordance representing a first suggested one or more characters of the plurality of suggested one or more characters at the bottom of the message transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1510) input representing user selection of the first affordance; and, in response to detecting the input, send (e.g., using sending unit 1512) the first suggested response to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: in response to detecting the input, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of the first suggested one or more characters in the message transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: in response to detecting the input, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of the first suggested one or more characters in a first region of the message transcript, wherein the first region is a contiguous region visually distinguished from the background of the message transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: in response to detecting the input, cease to display (e.g., using display ceasing unit 1514) the first suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of a second affordance representing a second suggested one or more characters of the plurality of suggested one or more characters; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1510) input representing user selection of the first affordance; and, in response to detecting the input, cease to display (e.g., using display ceasing unit 1514) the second affordance.

In some embodiments, the first region is a message bubble.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least one word used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) a use of the word “or” in the at least one message; identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) a preceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; and identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) a subsequent word that appears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: enabling display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of at least the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) whether the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence; and, in accordance with a determination that the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of at least “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least the identity of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) the most-frequently-sent messages to the first user, wherein: enabling display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of the most-frequently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) the most-recently-sent messages to the first user, and wherein: enabling display of the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of at least one of the most-recently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least a location of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) a location of the electronic device, and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance for sending the location as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least one calendar entry stored in the electronic device.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1518) a calendar entry based on the message received from the first user; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance for sending at least a portion of the obtained calendar entry as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least an honorific used in the at least one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1518) a plurality of contact names stored on the electronic device; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1510) the use of a contact name of the plurality of contact names in the at least one message; obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1518) contact information corresponding to the used contact name; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance for sending at least a portion of the obtained contact information as a message to the second user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance for calling a phone number associated with the obtained contact information.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: count (e.g., using counting unit 1520) the number of messages received from the first user within a time interval; and in accordance with a determination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance for calling the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: count (e.g., using counting unit 1520) the number of messages received from the first user within a time interval; and, in accordance with a determination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance for video conferencing the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to: rank (e.g., using ranking unit 1522) the suggested one or more characters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of the top-ranked characters in the center most position among the displayed suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters consists of a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises at least one emoji. In some embodiments, the at least one message is the most-recently-received message from the first user.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 10 are, optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 15. For example, displaying operation 1002, determining operation 1004, and detecting operation 1008 are optionally implemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application 136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information to respective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contact at a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event, such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 21 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of an electronic device 2100 configured in accordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. In accordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronic device 2100 are configured to perform the techniques described above. The functional blocks of the device 2100 are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of the various described examples. It is understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 21 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 21, an electronic device 2100 includes a display unit 2102 configured to display a graphic user interface, one or more input devices 2104, optionally, one or more location sensors 2106, and a processing unit 2108 coupled to the display unit 2102, the one or more input devices 2104, and, optionally, the one or more location sensors 2106. In some embodiments, the processing unit 2106 includes a display enabling unit 2110, a detecting unit 2112, a determining unit 2114, and optionally, an obtaining unit 2116, an arranging unit 2118, a creating unit 2120, and an identifying unit 2122.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 2108 is configured to enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of, on the display unit 2102, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determine (e.g., using the determining unit 2114), based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determine (e.g., using the determining unit 2114) whether usage of a previously detected one or more characters exceeds a threshold, where the previously detected one or more characters is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters and was detected, with the one or more input devices 2104 of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters exceeds the threshold, enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of the previously detected one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 2108 is configured to determine (e.g., using the determining unit 2114) whether the previously detected one or more characters is synonymous with a particular suggested one or more characters of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and in response to receiving the message: in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters exceeds the threshold and a determination that the previously detected one or more characters is synonymous, enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of the previously detected one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters does not exceed the threshold or a determination that the previously detected one or more characters is not synonymous, enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 2108 is configured to determine (e.g., using the determining unit 2114) whether the previously detected one or more characters is synonymous with the particular suggested one or more characters by determining whether the previously detected one or more characters is in a predefined plurality of synonymous words associated with the particular suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 2108 is configured to obtain (e.g., using the obtaining unit 2116) text comprising responses to a corresponding message; arrange (e.g., using the arranging unit 2118), using a vector space model, the responses into a plurality of clusters based on a distance metric, wherein responses of a cluster are within a distance of one another; and create (e.g., using the creating unit 2120) the pre-defined plurality of synonymous words based on a cluster of the plurality of clusters of responses.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 2108 is configured to determine (e.g., using the determining unit 2114) the usage of the previously detected one or more characters by counting the number of times the previously detected one or more characters is detected when the particular suggested one or more characters is displayed.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 2108 is configured to detect (e.g., using the detecting unit 2112) a touch input, with the one or more input devices 2104, representing selection of a displayed suggested one or more characters, the touch input having a characteristic intensity; in accordance with a determination that the characteristic intensity is below a threshold intensity: enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of the selected suggested one or more characters in the message transcript; and in accordance with a determination that the characteristic intensity is above the threshold intensity: enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of additional suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, determining the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on the message comprises identifying (e.g., using the identifying unit 2122) a use of the word “or” in the message; identifying (e.g., using the identifying unit 2122) a preceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; identifying (e.g., using the identifying unit 2122) a subsequent word that appears immediately after the word “or”, where the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters includes the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 2108 is configured to determine (e.g., using the determining unit 2114) the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the message.

In some embodiments, determining the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on the message comprises determining (e.g., using the determining unit 2114) whether the message contains an interrogatory sentence in accordance with a determination that the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence, including at least “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or more characters; and in accordance with a determination that the at least one message does not contain an interrogatory sentence, foregoing including “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, determining whether usage of the previously detected one or more characters exceeds the threshold comprises detecting (e.g., using the detecting unit 2112) the previously detected one or more characters responsive to messages received from the user; in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters, responsive to messages received from the user, exceeds the threshold: enabling display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of the previously detected one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the response, responsive to messages received from the user, does not exceed the threshold: foregoing enabling display (e.g., with display enabling unit 2110) of the previously detected one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, determining whether usage of a previously detected one or more characters exceeds the threshold comprises determining (e.g., using the determining unit 2114), with one or more location sensors, a location of the electronic device; determining (e.g., using the determining unit 2114) usage of the previously detected one or more characters within a distance of the location; in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters, within the distance of the location, exceeds the threshold, enabling display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of the previously detected one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously detected one or more characters, within the distance of the location, does not exceed the threshold, foregoing enabling display (e.g., with display enabling unit 2110) of the previously detected one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.

In some embodiments, the previously detected one or more characters represents a media object.

In some embodiments, the previously detected one or more characters is an emoji.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 2108 is further configured to detect (e.g., using the detecting unit 2112), with the one or more input devices 2104, input representing user selection of a suggested one or more characters; and in response to detecting the input representing user selection of the suggested one or more characters, enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2110) of the selected suggested one or more characters in the message transcript.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 19A-19C are, optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 21. For example, displaying operations 1902, 1916, 1918, 1920, an d/or 1922; and/or determining operations 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910, and/or 1914 are optionally implemented with event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application 136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information to respective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contact at a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event, such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 22 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of an electronic device 2200 configured in accordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. In accordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronic device 2200 are configured to perform the techniques described above. The functional blocks of the device 2200 are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of the various described examples. It is understood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 22 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 22, an electronic device 2200 includes a display unit 2202 configured to display a graphic user interface, one or more input devices 2204, and a processing unit 2206 coupled to the display unit 2202 and the one or more input devices 2204. In some embodiments, the processing unit 2206 includes a display enabling unit 2210, a detecting unit 2212, a determining unit 2214, and a receiving unit 2216.

The processing unit 2206 is configured to enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2210) of, on the display unit 2202, a message transcript, the message transcript including a first message received from a user; determine (e.g., using the determining unit 2214), based at least in-part on the first message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the first message; enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2210) of, on the display unit 2202, the plurality of suggested one or more characters; detect (e.g., using the detecting unit 2212), with the one or more input devices 2204 of the electronic device, an input representing a response to the first message, wherein the response comprises one or more characters, and wherein the response is not one of the displayed plurality of suggested one or more characters; determine (e.g., using the determining unit 2214) whether usage of the response exceeds a threshold; receive (e.g., using the receiving unit 2216) a second message into the message transcript; and in response to receiving the second message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response exceeds the threshold, enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2210) of the response as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the response does not exceed the threshold, enable display (e.g., using the display enabling unit 2210) of the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 20 are, optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 22. For example, displaying operations 2002, 2004, and/or 2018; detecting operation 2008, determining operation 2004, and/or receiving operation 2012 are optionally implemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application 136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information to respective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contact at a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event, such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device with a display screen and one or more input devices, the one or more programs including instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: display, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determine whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, display the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, display the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs further comprises instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: determine whether the previously inputted one or more characters is synonymous with a particular suggested one or more characters of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and in response to receiving the message: in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold and the determination that the previously inputted one or more characters is synonymous, display the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold or the determination that the previously inputted one or more characters is not synonymous, display the plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the second message.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein determining whether the previously inputted one or more characters is synonymous with the particular suggested one or more characters comprises: determining whether the previously inputted one or more characters is in a predefined plurality of synonymous words associated with the particular suggested one or more characters.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the one or more programs further comprises instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: obtain text comprising responses to a corresponding message; arrange, using a vector space model, the responses into a plurality of clusters based on a distance metric, wherein responses of a cluster are within a distance of one another; and create the pre-defined plurality of synonymous words based on a cluster of the plurality of clusters of responses.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the one or more programs further comprises instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: determine the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters by counting the number of times the previously inputted one or more characters is detected when the particular suggested one or more characters is displayed.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs further comprises instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: detect a touch input, with the one or more input devices, representing selection of a displayed suggested one or more characters, the touch input having a characteristic intensity; in accordance with a determination that the characteristic intensity is below a threshold intensity: display the selected suggested one or more characters in the message transcript; and in accordance with a determination that the characteristic intensity is above the threshold intensity: display additional suggested one or more characters.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on the message comprises: identifying a use of the word “or” in the message; identifying a preceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; identifying a subsequent word that appears immediately after the word “or”, wherein the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters includes the preceding word and the subsequent word.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs further comprises instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: determine the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the message.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of suggested one or more characters based on the message comprises: determining whether the message contains an interrogatory sentence in accordance with a determination that the at least one message contains an interrogatory sentence, including at least “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or more characters; and in accordance with a determination that the at least one message does not contain an interrogatory sentence, foregoing including “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or more characters.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold comprises: detecting the previously inputted one or more characters responsive to messages received from the user; in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters, responsive to messages received from the user, exceeds the threshold: displaying the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the response, responsive to messages received from the user, does not exceed the threshold: foregoing displaying the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold comprises: determining, with one or more location sensors, a location of the electronic device; determining usage of the previously inputted one or more characters within a distance of the location; in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters, within the distance of the location, exceeds the threshold: displaying the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters, within the distance of the location, does not exceed the threshold: foregoing displaying the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters represents a media object.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters is an emoji.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs further comprises instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: detect, with the one or more input devices, input representing user selection of a suggested one or more characters; and in response to detecting the input representing user selection of the suggested one or more characters, display the selected suggested one or more characters in the message transcript.
 15. A method comprising: at an electronic device having a display screen and one or more input devices: displaying, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determining based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determining whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, displaying the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with the determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, displaying the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message.
 16. An electronic device comprising: a display screen; one or more input devices; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs stored in memory, including instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: display, on the display screen, a message transcript, the message transcript including a message received from a user; determine, based at least in-part on the message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; determine whether usage of a previously inputted one or more characters exceeds a threshold, wherein the previously inputted one or more characters: is not one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters; and was detected, with the one or more input devices of the electronic device, when at least one of the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters was previously displayed; in response to receiving the message: in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters exceeds the threshold, display the previously inputted one or more characters as a suggested one or more characters for responding to the message; and in accordance with a determination that the usage of the previously inputted one or more characters does not exceed the threshold, display the determined plurality of suggested one or more characters for responding to the message. 